


Fighting For Freedom

by kittyface27



Series: The All-All fruit [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL, Adventure, Allies, Best Friends to Lovers, Betrayal, Childhood, Donquixote Doflamingo Being an Asshole, Dressrosa, Evil characters - Freeform, Gen, Humor, LawLu - Freeform, Luffy being cruel in a funny way, Luffy tormenting a yonko crew, M/M, Ope Ope no Mi | Op-Op Fruit, Overpowered characters, Raised Together, Revenge, Romance, Slow Burn, dark characters, good people who do bad things, jaded asl and law, law is a sweetheart to luffy, luffy trying to save Law, luffy-centric, made up devil fruits, raised by pirates, spying on everyone, vanilla relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:33:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 92,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24079051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyface27/pseuds/kittyface27
Summary: When Luffy, Sabo and Ace all eat the most overpowered fruits, they can't control them and their only option is to join Doflamingo's "family". Growing up with them, the boys trust them while Luffy searched for a way to cure his close friend, Law's, sickness. But do the pirates actually care about them, or was it all fake? Well, the four were going to be free now, and make their own mark on the world, even if it's negative. And Luffy and Law slowly discover feelings that had been building up for a decade. Luffy-centric.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: The All-All fruit [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669969
Comments: 51
Kudos: 199





	1. Prologue

**New, very different story I've ever written. I watched most of the Dressrosa arc for information to write this. It's also my first LawLu fanfic. I'm going to put a warning now. ASL are not saints in this, for various reasons that will make sense later. The childhood is a smaller part of the story. The timeline is messed up and Law's age is different. It's cannon-divergent with some OOC main characters, for obvious reasons that will be revealed later. There is some murder and torture in this (funny torture lol. You'll find out later.) ASL are all overpowered to the max. It was so fun writing this. It's ASL point of view but mostly Luffy's pov and Luffy centric. Well, enjoy~**

* * *

"Damn it," Ace hissed, trying to get his hand off fire. It was hard enough having one thing going on, he didn't need half of his body on fire and the other crackling with lightning. It was so hard to control, and his brothers were having similar problems. Sabo had half of his face covered in green scales while his back was on fire and a leopard tail was sticking out of his shorts.

Luffy was crying, one arm dragging on the ground behind him with his left leg coated in diamond. He could barely walk, and Sabo was having trouble seeing out of the snake eye. Ace sat down on the hard ground in their area in the slums of the town. Everything had gone wrong after they robbed a noble who seemed to be carrying a huge bin of food. There was one fruit that had three parts to it. Ace, Sabo and Luffy each took one.

What they hadn't known was that all three of them had been powerful devil fruits that they had no idea how to even begin trying to figure out how to work them. But now, it was hindering their way of life, even if it wasn't a good one. It made it difficult for them to get food or rob people for money.

Not to mention Ace's lightning had given them away multiple times. Each of them knew their new fruits were powerful, but as of now, they were a hindrance. They each had it bad in their own way. Sabo kept turning into animals. Well, parts of his body were. It was causing him trouble walking or moving. Ace was afraid to touch his brothers and risk burning or electrocuting them. Luffy was doing all sorts of weird things.

More than once, he'd started sucking on a finger made of candy. Ace would usually take his hand to stop him, but he couldn't since he was afraid of touching the youngest. Luffy was five and Ace and Sabo were eight. It was hardly a life kids as young as they should have, but they had to make do with what cards they were dealt.

And they'd gotten a very bad hand with these fruits.

They had no food that night, and Luffy's stomach rumbled all night, him crying and whining quietly while Sabo tried comforting him. "It'll be okay, Lu," the blonde said, though he had no idea if those words were accurate. It was cold, and the only one who wasn't cold was Ace, who assumed the fire was keeping him warm.

They didn't know the first thing about devil fruits, so they didn't know what to expect or what to do. They didn't even know they could easily drown. Sometime during the night, after Luffy finally drifted to sleep in their alcove of an alleyway, Luffy unlocked a power out of his hunger, and one of the pipes they used that was in Luffy's reach turned into a long loaf of bread.

The smell woke the boy up, and he felt the bread before seeing it. He sat up quickly and exclaimed "FOOD!" It obviously woke his brothers, and they sat up to see the huge loaf of bread. Luffy broke it off into three chunks and he and his brothers devoured it enthusiastically.

Sabo then looked around. "Wait, where is my pipe?" he asked. Luffy looked up, too, and saw the pipe was missing. "And where did we get the bread?" Luffy looked at his hand, and Ace clicked first.

"Lu, did you use a power to make bread?" he asked in a light tone. Luffy gave a shrug, but then grinned a toothy grin, showing his missing bottom tooth. It had fallen out recently, and since they didn't have a pillow to put it under, they buried it and gave Luffy a coin. Sabo had heard about the "tooth fairy" a long time ago. They wanted to give Luffy a nice childhood.

He beamed and said, "I wanna make soup, too! It'll be yummy." Sabo wasn't angry, but he'd need to find a new pipe. The three went to bed happy, satisfied and their bellies full for the first time in days. They curled up together on their box bed, which was just layers of cardboard boxes and a big net they shoved towels into so it was sort of like a blanket.

The next day, the boys ventured into the forest and tried to try and hunt something. Ace's new powers had been under control for the beginning of the day, and they were hungry. Luffy stayed in his designated tree, since he was too little and weak to fight any of the big animals. He always stayed in that one, safe tree.

Sabo went with Ace, carrying a pole instead of a pipe, and backed Ace up as best as he could while some of his body was a scales and clawed leg, looking like a dragon's leg of some sort. But dragons didn't exist, so he was sure that was not it.

Ace brought down a bear, and dragged it back to Lu's tree, where he was swinging from like a monkey with one arm elongated. Sabo hurried over and Luffy dropped down, landing on his head. "Lu! Are you okay?" the blonde asked in worry. Luffy felt completely fine, it didn't hurt at all! He nodded, and ran over to the huge bear.

"Food!" he exclaimed. When he touched the bear, it turned into a massive pie. They all stared at it, before they grinned and dug in, eating with their hands, shoving them into the pie and eating it with fervor. They hadn't had something like this in a long time. Usually they had meat or vegetation bought or stolen from the market. Even the bread had been a delicacy.

The pie was completely devoured and all three of them felt full to the brim and a little sick. But it was worth it for something so delicious. They went back to their place happily, feeling hope. Maybe these powers could be useful. If Luffy mastered that power, they'd never go hungry again.

But more problems arose that day, and their high from the pie disappeared, sadly. Ace showed something other than lightning and fire. He started to dissolve into sand. Sabo was losing the use of his arms as they changed into bird wings. Luffy kept turning invisible, and eventually they tied a rope around him for Ace to wrap around his own waist.

There was a pattern, obviously. Sabo was changing into other creatures, Ace's body was becoming other substances and elements, and Luffy's made no sense. They couldn't figure out a constant for him. It was strange, but they had no help and no direction, so they'd figure it out themselves.

Luffy shivered in the cold air, since it was fall and they didn't have any warm clothes. Being homeless and poor sucked. Living out in the forest didn't seem safe with the big animals and Luffy's young age. They kept the more abandoned parts of town, where they were largely left alone. Luckily.

Ace wished he could warm his brothers, and he was able to light a trashcan on fire, burning what was inside it and keeping them warm, even for a little bit. Luffy snuggled up to him, and Ace cautiously hugged the boy, his body staying normal so it didn't hurt his precious brother. "Lu, are you scared?" Sabo asked quietly. He was scared, but Luffy wasn't showing any fear that day, which was nice for his older brothers. Seeing him scared broke their hearts.

He shook his head. "We're figuring out the stuff! We'll be okay, I think," he said optimistically. Ace and Sabo smiled at him fondly. Luffy was always the positive one when it mattered most. He still cried a lot, but it was usually because he was hungry or bored. It was hard to take care of them with how young both of the older two were, but they were miles away in maturity than the five year old.

It was their dream and goal to make him happy. Finding him made their world a little brighter, giving them something to live for. Some day, they wanted him to live in a nice, big and clean home. Eat every day as much as he wants, sleep in a bed. Have friends. They would achieve that goal, no matter what.

They were back in town and walking to the fountain to wash their hands when the three heard whispering about a group of pirates who were settling in the junky port area of the island. Ace and Sabo's ears perked as they listened. They'd always wanted to be pirates, be free out on the sea. And now, maybe they'd make it if they could control their powers.

Luffy gave the older two a little bit of hope. It would take time and practice, but they could do it. They had to. But it would be nice to have a little help. They listened as the three washed their hands in the clean water, but were distracted when lightning left Ace's hands and electrocuted the water.

Ace screamed in fear, but both of his brothers were fine. Sabo had a couple flames on his hands and Luffy wasn't fazed. The freckled child sighed in relief. They really had no idea what to expect. What animal is on fire? But then again, they were sure Sabo had the arm of a dragon the day before.

"We're fine, Ace," Sabo assured, though he was surprised as well. It seemed he had the safest fruit of them. He couldn't accidentally hurt any of them if all he did was turn into animals. Luffy's was the mystery of the three, and luckily the boy was looking forward to it. A striking comparison to the previous day where he was crying about it.

Sometimes Luffy contradicted himself, but he was five, what could they expect? After they washed a bit in the fountain, not doing much to clean them, they started to walk back to their little home. "Home" wasn't really a good way to describe it. More like a nest. Luffy wondered if he could make a house and blankets.

"Who knows? Looks like we'll find out whether we want to or not," Ace commented, holding Luffy's hand. Then he was suddenly six feet away. "The hell?" Ace wondered. He turned into a bright light and then was next to Luffy again. He sighed and then groaned. "It's so annoying." Sabo looked behind him to see a bird's tail feathers sticking out of his pants.

"I understand," Sabo replied. Luffy suddenly started to melt and turned into a blob on the ground. "Luffy!" Sabo screeched before the boy popped back into place. He looked upset before he started crying. Sabo hurried over and hugged him, the fur all over his arms being soft and warm. "Don't worry, everything will end up alright." Luffy nodded, wiping tears and snot on Sabo's shirt, not that the blonde cared much. They were already filthy.

They were settling into their nest for Luffy to take a nap when someone approached their area. It was in a secluded place that stank, so people rarely came over. Plus, the townsfolk knew not to mess with them. Plus, now, they were ostracized even more for having devil fruit powers. It was not hard to make the connection, and fruit users were shunned on the island.

There were two people, not one, and their silhouettes showed that they both wore jackets made of feathers. Ace stood up to defend his brothers. Flames licked his left arm while his right arm was dissolving into sand. Luffy huddled with Sabo, scared and worried, but trusting that Ace would protect them.

"Hello, boys," the one with the pink jacket said. They didn't like his voice much, and the other man looked much nicer. Ace put his fists up. "Now, don't be like that. We're not here to hurt you. Quite the opposite. How'd you like to join our crew? If you work with us, we'll help you master your devil fruits," the pink feathered man said. "My name is Doflamingo. This is my brother, Corazon."

Sabo looked shocked, and Ace was as well. Luffy was confused. "Why would we do that?" Ace challenged. The feathered men didn't get angry at his tone of voice.

Doflamingo laughed, and said, "You three ate very powerful fruits. Anyone will be coming after you when they find out. We'll teach you how to use them if you join us. Not to mention you'll be living a better life. No more sleeping next to a dumpster on cardboard boxes. You'll get to eat three times a day. Be with other children.

"It's not a bad trade," the man said, sporting a grin. Corazon, the other man, was giving them a small and encouraging smile. Luffy thought he looked like a good man, but not Doflamingo. Sabo and Ace thought about it. They were being offered shelter and food. What they desperately wanted for Luffy. And learning how to control the powers would be extremely helpful.

Ace turned to Sabo, and they shared a look. Sabo nodded minutely. The blonde stood up, taking Lu up as well. "Fine, we'll come with you. But nobody touches Luffy," Ace said. Doflamingo laughed, but agreed that nobody would touch or even think of touching the youngest. He asked their names. "Ace, Sabo and Luffy."

"Welcome, boys."


	2. Meeting Law

**chickie434: Thank you! You might get that wish. Nothing is similar to canon except the characters.**

**rel: Awww, thank you! I love making OP characters. And I have so many ideas and started fics for my "all all" fruit. I posted one where Luffy turned kinda-sorta evil and then one where baby Luffy ate one and caused trouble for Shanks and Makino. lol that one was fun to write.**

**Maddie_Madson: Don't mourn just yet. He might live, since this story does not follow canon one bit.**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Yeah, it's very different from my other stories. Dipping my toes into something new.**

**The_Weird_Girl: Thank you! I have so many ideas for the "all all fruit" because it's so fun to write. Shanks is not in this one besides a super short cameo. The Whitebeards are in it, and I sorta prank them very, very badly. I can't wait to post that chapter, though it will be awhile before it is.**

* * *

**Law appears in this chapter, and it has some humor regarding a power of a certain fruit. Might be seen as sexual, but definitely not meant to be that way. You'll get it once you read it, lol. And I want to make it clear that, though I make the pirates seem like good people, they are not good people. They're still the pirates from canon, even if the story has changed. Make sure you don't make too many predictions based on the real plot! Some people who live will die, some people who die will live. Enjoy~**

* * *

The three were incredibly distrustful of the pirates. Well, Ace and Sabo were distrustful. Luffy was perfectly happy. He was bright and cheery even as they walked through another junkyard not unlike where Ace and Sabo had come from before finding Luffy. Corazon had said nothing, and Doflamingo was silent as well.

Ace continued to flame up, while Sabo was miserable while dragging one leg behind him as it was a huge dragon's leg that he couldn't walk with normally. They were all nervous, and looking forward to being able to control these new powers. Luffy had trouble as well, half of him being incredibly heavy as it was made of diamond.

They weren't even keeping track of what was popping up. New things continued to come at a more accelerated pace than before. "I can't wait to not have this happen anymore," Sabo complained. Corazon had still said nothing, and Doflamingo kept chuckling. Ace and Sabo didn't trust them one bit. Of course, Luffy, the purehearted and dumb boy he was, seemed to want to talk to both men. But Ace shook his head every time he opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, it's going to take awhile to learn to control your powers. It won't happen overnight," the blonde pirate said. Sabo deflated while Ace bristled at the rude tone. They arrived at the wooden building, and climbed up the stairs. Well, attempted to. Sabo couldn't bend one of his legs, and Luffy was back to being the blob creature. Ace tried dragging them up, but it didn't work.

Sabo was blushing furiously when he said, "C-Can someone help us up?" Ace was red in the face as well. Doflamingo chuckled, but he seemed to do that for no reason. Or at least not a reason they could see. Corazon looked down at them, and walked down to pick Luffy and Sabo up under his arms. Ace walked up after them.

Corazon put them down once they reached the first floor. He still hadn't said a thing. "Don't be put off by his silence. He doesn't speak," the captain said. Ace and Sabo wouldn't like being under someone else, but this was to give Luffy a better life. No matter if it was as a pirate, he would eat, sleep in a good place. Or at least, a better place than their cardboard nest.

"Thank you, sir," Sabo said. Doflamingo started laughing again.

"That's good, Sabo. Be polite. There are a few rules, but we can go over those inside." The blonde brother was still embarrassed, but he was glad it was starting out well. As long as Luffy didn't say anything stupid. Or Ace blow up. Though the eldest wasn't an idiot. A hot head, yes, but not an idiot. Even he could tell to not piss these people off.

When they entered, they saw four people. Two older men, both very large, and two children. "Hey! Other kids!" Luffy exclaimed. One was a little girl and another boy who was pretty large and had large teeth.

"That's right. They will be your friends, soon. Why don't you introduce yourselves?" Doflaimigno said. But Luffy was shocked when Corazon hit the girl across the face to get her out of the way. Luffy brought his hands up in worry. Ace put his hand on the youngest's head in comfort. Corazon seemed like the nice one, why did he do that?

But no one said anything of it, and the little girl didn't seem fazed at all. "I'm Sabo. This is Luffy and Ace. Nice to meet you," he said with a bow. Ace and Luffy followed suit.

The other men introduced themselves as Trebol and Diamante. The girl was Baby 5 and the other boy was Buffalo. "Welcome, boys. I like your attitudes. But you don't need to be so formal. We're all a family now. So, you ate devil fruits?"

It was obvious based on just how they looked. "Hey, hey, it doesn't exactly look enjoyable," Trebol said. Ace and Sabo had a hard time not staring at the snot dripping from his wide nose. Ace huffed, but didn't help things when his leg started to dissolve and he fell sideways. No one laughed at them, which was appreciated. They were embarrassed enough as it was.

"It's not. We can't control them yet. You were gonna help us if we worked for you," Ace replied in a strong voice. "So, what fruits did we eat? Why does all this weird shit keep happening?" Sabo frowned at him, worried swearing wasn't allowed. Plus, they didn't swear in front of Luffy when they could help it.

The four adults were all in their big chairs, with Buffalo and Baby 5 sitting in the windowsill. Though this place was hardly a mansion, it was an improvement by a huge margin compared to their previous living arrangements.

"The all-all fruits. Sabo has the zoan, Luffy paramecia, and Ace has the logia," Doflamingo said simply. Baby 5 and Buffalo gasped in shock, so the boys thought maybe these fruits were rare. But they had no idea what those categories meant in the first place. They didn't need to ask for clarification.

"A logia fruit gives the person the ability to become a substance. Such as fire, ice, or sand. Most attacks will go right through your body. If I were to stab you right now, you'd be perfectly fine. Logia's are considered the more superior category.

"A zoan is pretty self explanatory. You can become another animal. However, judging by the dragon leg and blue flames, you can also use the mythical zoan abilities. Sabo is invincible to any attacks. He will heal and never get sick. After all, he is able to turn into a phoenix.

"Paramecia is the more broad range of them. There are far too many to know on hand. You three can become incredibly powerful if you nurture the abilities. We have an encyclopedia on them that we will give you," the captain said helpfully. Ace and Sabo didn't like him, but he was being polite enough. It made both of them doubt their instincts. They wouldn't be trusting him anytime soon, but as of now, they didn't think he'd harm them.

However, it was concerning that Corazon wordlessly attacked Baby 5. He had been gentle with Sabo and Luffy just moments before. Well, they would learn what these people were like. They were staying with them for the foreseeable future after all.

"Can I turn things into food? I turned a pipe into bread!" Luffy said. "It was yummy, too. Can I do that more?" Luffy was completely out of place in the room. He was clearly the youngest, but was also the most clueless. He sensed no danger here. He was meeting new people, and Doflamingo said that they were family now. To him, it was obvious that no one here would hurt them.

Corazon smiled at him silently, and Luffy smiled back. "That is one ability you can master, yes," Diamante said simply. Luffy smiled.

They were shown to their room, which was a shared room with the other kids. They were left in there alone, when Luffy marveled at the bed they could share. "It's so soft and squishy," Luffy said in awe. Ace and Sabo chuckled.

"Much better than the cardboard, right?" Sabo asked with a grin, earning and enthusiastic nod. It was a good distraction from their various states. They were each having a lot of trouble, before Baby 5 walked in and closed the door behind her. The three turned around to see her.

She walked up to them, and the two older were suspicious, while Luffy was smiling brightly. "I know they're too big, but we have these, if they could help you," she offered, holding a towel with metal bracelets. Sabo reached for one only to drop it again when he lost all his energy. "They're made of sea stone. It inhibits a devil fruit user's abilities. But it could help you have control now."

Ace looked at her in shock and then took the towel, sliding one of the bracelets on. "Thank you, Baby 5," Ace said as his body turned back to normal. It was the same for the other two. The feeling was not fun or nice, but it kept their bodies under control. Baby 5 smiled at them, hands behind her back.

"It's weird, you know? Corazon usually hates kids, but didn't he help you out? I saw out the window, he carried you to the stairs. Maybe it was pity, but still, it was strange. We're having dinner soon, and the others came back, so you can go meet them," she said. Ace thanked her again, and they changed into a cleaner set of clothes before going back to the main room, where they could smell dinner.

Luffy ran, attracted by the tasty smelling food that circulated through the dinky building. When he entered the room, the three saw just how many people were in "the family." Luffy didn't wait for introductions to climb onto a chair that was too big for him and grab whatever was on the table in front of him.

"There's no need to rush, the food isn't going anywhere," Diamante said. He saw what was on Luffy's wrist and then the other two boys. "Where did you get those?"

"I gave it to them. I feel bad for them," Baby 5 said, sitting at her own chair. Ace and Sabo were red in the face as they sat next to Luffy. Everyone introduced themselves around the table, and they knew none of them would be able to memorize the names anytime soon. Ace and Luffy ate like animals despite being weakened by the sea stone. Sabo punched them both in the head, Luffy much more lightly.

"Stop eating like that, use a fork and knife," he chided. Ace glared at him and Luffy fisted the fork completely wrong. Buffalo laughed and the others ignored the mess they were making. They hadn't eaten like this in a very long time. Of course they were excited!

"So, Luffy, we have some rules to give you about your fruit," Doflamingo said suddenly. Luffy looked up, and Ace and Sabo's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Many of us, most of us, have our own devil fruits. All of them are a paramecia. It's simple: don't learn the fruits we use. Or that would render us useless, wouldn't it?"

Luffy nodded and said he'd try not to learn them. The three of them listened silently as the pirates spoke. The chair was too big for Luffy, so he stood on it. Being underfed and underweight, he was small for his age. And he was the youngest out of all of them.

When the brothers heard Pica's voice, Sabo kept a straight face, while Ace expertly hid a snicker, and Luffy gasped. Before his brothers stopped him, he said, "That voice!" The table immediately shot nasty looks at him. "Do you sing?"

Ace and Sabo watched fearfully, not knowing what kind of reaction would be given, before the table burst into laughter. Luffy didn't realize he said anything wrong or funny. "That's the first time someone has ever reacted like that," Diamante laughed. Doflamingo laughed, too, and Luffy just didn't understand. He wasn't trying to make a joke, and his question hadn't been answered.

He didn't ask again, and the table gradually calmed down. The three stuffed themselves to the point of being uncomfortable, before they were excused from the table once everyone was finished. "Luffy, why don't we go to bed?" He was clearly sleepy, and the seastone wasn't helping.

"But it's only 9:00," Baby 5 said.

"Luffy's only five," Ace responded. Even if they were now pirates and worked for someone else, Luffy came first. And they were all tired. No one stopped them from heading to bed, where they all flopped down on the beds they'd be sharing until they were comfortable to use some of the many bunk beds, and fell asleep.

-x-

It was very hard to get used to this new life. For so long, Ace and Sabo had been in control over their own decision and lives. And that was suddenly not the case anymore. They missed the freedom, but knew they couldn't live on their own if their fruits were out of control. They weren't planning on staying indefinitely, but for now they would. And Luffy would grow up better like this, more people to look out for him and a sheltered environment.

He wouldn't cry for being cold at night again. Wouldn't go hungry. Ace and Sabo would do anything to help him be happy, even if it were to give their freedom away. They weren't slaves here, but they were no longer the ones in control.

Starting the day after they arrived, they began to learn about the devil fruits they now had. Baby 5 hung out with them a lot from the start. She and Luffy got along very well. Ace and Sabo thought they could trust her, and let down their guards. She helped explain the powers to Luffy. He may only be three years younger than she and his brothers but it was an important three years of their lives.

There were a handful that Ace and Sabo disliked from the beginning. One in specific. Trebol. He was annoying and disgusting. Why couldn't he plug his nose or something? Snot _constantly_ dripped from his nose, and the older two were revolted. Diamante gave them a bad feeling, as did Giolla. Another annoying one was Machvise.

But the one they mistrusted the most was the captain. Hated having him be their captain. Luffy, the clueless child he was, didn't seem to have a problem with anyone. They were all nice to him, so why should he not like anybody? The only one that Ace and Sabo truly trusted was Corazon. He was kind to Luffy, even as he hit and kicked Baby 5 and Buffalo. He may not speak, but he was friendly and helpful.

A schedule was made for the boys. They were to develop their powers one at a time. It was tedious, but organized. Ace and Sabo's were very straightforward. Ace could turn into elements, Sabo could turn into animals. The first that Ace focused on was his fire. Sabo focused on leopard, while Luffy focused on what he loved most: food.

He worked first on turning into and using candy. He enjoyed eating it and it was fun to make things out of. Surprisingly, Luffy was the fastest learner of the boys. Ace and Sabo were slow and steady, while Lu just ran at full speed. Though this had drawbacks. Luffy's powers were more messy, since he was going so fast, where Ace and Sabo learned to easily use that single fruit, until they moved to the next.

No one could get Luffy under control, so they let him learn at his own rapid pace as long as it didn't hurt or hinder anyone. The three slept in the sea stone bands because it was easier, but spent the rest of their time without them, training outside by the port.

When they were out there one day, Ace was feeling particularly sad. Luffy walked up to him in worry. "What's wrong?" he asked. Sabo was there, too.

"I miss our freedom. I miss going where we want when we want," he explained. Luffy didn't understand, really. "I feel trapped here. I don't think they want us here for any other reason than we're going to be helpful in the future." Sabo nodded in agreement. He felt the same. He knew from the start they were only being used. Their powers would come in handy for the pirates one day, so they were sheltering them until that day came.

Luffy frowned. "They don't like us?" Ace patted his head and smiled.

"They like us being there, but I don't think they like _us._ Just what we can do," he explained patiently. "For now, we'll be with them. I'm sure you and Baby 5 will get into all sorts of trouble together. Just know this isn't permanent. They're using us so we'll use them back."

Luffy was confused. Sabo frowned at Ace, who bristled at the look. "Don't tell them what Ace just said, okay?" Sabo asked the youngest, who nodded. "I need you to pinky swear, okay?" Luffy nodded and gave his pinky. He wouldn't tell a soul what Ace had said. He didn't understand why or what he meant, but Luffy would be a good brother and not cause trouble for Ace and Sabo.

They practiced their powers outside for a while, out at the port by themselves. It was nicer outside than in the stuffy house. They each had the sea stone bands with them, in a sock so they wouldn't touch it directly.

They would learn their powers and then get out of there. But only once they were strong enough to leave safely. Meaning once Sabo could fly long distances and Luffy had some powers he could use to defend himself.

But both older boys knew they'd be there for a long time. They knew that and accepted it, no matter if they didn't like it. Luffy went along as well, seeing no problems. He just didn't see what his brothers saw.

-Two years later-

"Look, Ace, I have boobies!" Luffy shouted, waking up everyone in the room in shock and the boys in horror. The lights were turned on by Buffalo and Baby 5 screamed at seeing a female Luffy. Ace and Sabo were horrified. "See, look! I don't like them, they're annoying."

Ace covered Luffy in the blanket. "Luffy, change back right now! What the hell!?" Ace shouted, and Luffy laughed under the blanket. He writhed around, the female voice making Ace and Sabo freaked out.

Luffy grew sharp nails and stabbed himself in the thigh, the breasts disappearing and other parts coming back. Ace took the blanket off of him to show Luffy back to normal. "You little shit!" Sabo raved, and Luffy laughed. He grew the nails and stabbed Sabo. "No, Lu. No!" the blonde exclaimed as his body changed. "We agreed! No using our powers on each other!" Sabo shouted as breasts formed on his chest.

Baby 5 was roaring in laughter until Luffy ran at her and stabbed her as well. She turned into a boy, and chaos reigned in the kids' bedroom. Luffy was thrown around and shouted at until he changed Sabo and Baby 5 back to normal. The girl shot Luffy with her revolver leg. The bullet bounced off of him and hit the wall. Sabo was hitting Luffy with the pillow over and over again. "How dare you give me boobs!"

Luffy laughed, and Ace did as well. Buffalo couldn't stop laughing at Baby 5, and the kids' room continued to be deafening until one of the adults barged in. "What is going on in here?!" Giolla demanded angrily, in her sleep clothes and makeup off.

Baby 5 pointed at Luffy, "He turned me into a boy! He turned Sabo into a girl, too!" Luffy was grinning and Giolla glared at him. He wasn't supposed to use his powers on the others after he had turned Corazon into a child by accident.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again," Luffy said, though he didn't sound sincere.

Giolla turned the light off. "Go to bed and don't be noisy or I'll turn you into art again!" he snapped and slammed the door closed behind her. They all went to bed after that, and Luffy didn't victimize any of the other kids. He did get in trouble the next morning when Giolla explained what had happened.

"Luffy, it's good that you're developing your powers, but you can't use them on others in the family," Diamante said at breakfast.

The seven year old pouted but nodded. "I promise I won't give Sabo boobs again," he vowed. Sabo's face was bright red in anger and embarrassment and Ace snickered at him while a couple others at the table hid laughter behind their hands.

"It wouldn't be so funny if it happened to you!" he exclaimed. Over the past two years, against their own wills, Ace and Sabo had assimilated into the crew completely. They still weren't planning on staying for life, but they had expected much worse than what had actually happened. They knew they had been taken in for future use of their powers, but they could almost see that the others cared about them.

Doflamingo found the whole thing funny, while he also lightly scolded Luffy for it. "I promise I won't do it again," he swore. "Promise."

"You better keep that promise," Pica said in his high pitched voice. He never sang. Luffy had been wrong in the beginning. Luffy nodded, and normal discussion resumed. They had long since left the port and were now on a real pirate ship. The three were lightly involved in the dealings of the crew. They didn't go on missions like the adults, but they did help out. Luffy used some of his powers for their help, but most of them were useless for the pirates.

The only one that he used to help them was the glare-glare fruit. It gave him a headache to use it too much, but he helped the captain with his dealings by doing surveillance. He always liked being useful. For his brothers and the crew.

They were stopping at an island for a while and the three looked forward to being on land again. They were awarded enough freedom to explore islands on their own, as the pirates knew they wouldn't disappear on them while they were off of the ship. So they looked forward to going on a new island soon.

After breakfast, Luffy found Baby 5, who was still angry, and apologized again. "I'm really sorry. I didn't think it would upset everyone like that," he said sincerely. He and Baby 5 were good friends. She pouted at him and looked away, before sighing and forgiving him. "I swear I won't do it again."

"Okay. I'm sorry I shot at you," she replied. Luffy nodded and hugged. "There, we've moved on. Now let's go work on getting to the port!"

She and Luffy ran off to help out with docking the ship. Ace and Sabo were cranky, Sabo much more so than Ace. When they landed on the island, the three ran off to explore while leaving all of the responsibilities to the grown ups.

Sabo grew wings and flew into the sky, circling a few times as a falcon since the phoenix form was too noticeable. Ace and Luffy ran into the forest, Luffy swinging from branch to branch with his rubber power. Ace sighed, enjoying the freedom. Sabo landed in the tree in a crouch, wings disappearing. "Doflamingo says we'll be here awhile, so why don't we find someplace cool to stay?" the blonde offered.

"Yeah!" Luffy exclaimed. The three wandered around the forest, looking for someplace cool. They weren't told to be back at any time, so they'd stay out as long as they wanted, doing what they wanted. They'd run off before they could be given any orders. They explored for a while before going hunting.

They'd long since given up using pipes. Now they used their devil fruit powers. Ace and Sabo had been in a few fights onboard whenever someone was stupid enough to attack, but Luffy hadn't. They caught an alligator and Ace roasted it for food. Luffy took a couple rocks and turned them into fresh loaves of bread. He also made some drinks for them.

The three set up a fort deep in the forest made of wax. It had a door and everything. "This'll be a cool hideout!" Luffy exclaimed. Sabo commented on how useful Luffy's powers were. "I'm gonna be super strong! Promise!"

Ace beamed and ruffled his hair. "We should decorate our new hideout," he said. Luffy nodded and they went to find big leaves and foliage to hide their hideout like it was just a mass of plants. When they were finished decorating the hideout, Luffy worked on making a swing on the nearest tree out of wax. The chains were difficult, but it helped that Sabo held them up for him as he hovered in the air.

They heard rustling in the bushes and turned around to see a boy with a knife pointed at them. "Where's Doflamingo?" he asked in an angry voice. They all looked at him, unimpressed. Well, Luffy was a bit curious. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and was dirty. It reminded him of the state the three were in when the captain and Corazon found them.

"Are you planning to kill him?" Sabo asked calmly.

"I want to kill everyone. Where is he?" the boy said in a dark voice. Ace shared a glance with Sabo, contemplating sending this boy to his death. If he hurt any of the family, then he'd die. But they didn't know him, so it wasn't their problem. Before they could say anything, Luffy spoke.

"If you go to hurt one of our crew, you will be killed. You're walking to your death," the youngest said calmly. "A knife won't hurt any of them." The boy scowled at them, and told them it was none of their business. He backed away and went to run down the beach, going to find the ship eventually until Luffy formed a box barrier around him. It was a power he didn't use much since it wasn't necessary.

"Hey! Let me out!" Luffy formed a hand on the wall of the barrier and snatched the knife away, tossing it up and over the top of the box.

Luffy stood outside of the box as the boy banged on it to be let out. He looked around Ace and Sabo's age. "Lu, what are you doing?" Ace asked, walking up next to him. He was still in awe of Luffy's control over his powers. He was able to use multiple ones at one time.

Luffy said, "Doesn't he look familiar?"

Sabo understood first. "He looks like we did," he said quietly. Luffy turned back to him, and the boy was very angry, glaring daggers at Luffy. He wasn't fazed by it.

"Hey, you should join us. You can be our friend! And you'll be nice and clean and have food every day," the youngest said with a bright smile. The boy glared at him and exclaimed that he didn't want friends, just to kill people. Luffy frowned sadly, feeling bad for him. His brothers felt the same. If they weren't all practically invincible, they may have been worried about the crazed look in his eyes.

He was so angry, and Sabo knew he must have been through hardships to become this way. And he was clearly homeless and alone. Luffy looked at his brothers. "What should we do?" he asked.

Sabo and Ace shared a look, both trying to come up with a plan. It was clear Luffy wanted him to join, maybe out of pity, but they were suspicious. Though they didn't doubt that this one would be unable to hurt any of them. Even Baby 5 wouldn't be hurt by this one. "We can take him back."

Luffy beamed. "Hey! Give me my knife back!" the boy exclaimed. Ace took it in his hand and burned it to melted metal. "What the hell!?"

Ace smirked. "We don't want you hurting yourself, do we? What's your name?" He replied that it was none of his business. Ace shrugged, and created ice wheels and attached them to the bottom of the barrier. Sabo turned into an Ox and Luffy made strings of mochi connected to him, and they all walked back along the beach with a cranky boy trapped in the barrier box.

"How do you have multiple devil fruits?" he asked, still sounding angry but not shouting anymore. Maybe he finally knew he wouldn't be getting away from them. Luffy explained that they ate the all-all fruits. "I've never heard of those before."

Ace said, "That doesn't mean they don't exist. We didn't know what they were at first, either. Didn't know shit about devil fruits. But they're really helpful. So you won't be able to harm us. And if you ever hurt Luffy, I'll personally kill you."

Luffy frowned at him and smacked his shoulder. "That's not nice, he's going to be our friend," he insisted. Ace just smiled at him and ruffled his hair. He didn't think this one would stay with them at all. He was going to get killed, most likely. But he and Sabo weren't worried about Lu's safety. He could heal himself and it was hard for him to get injured in the first place. The powers really did make them very powerful, even if they couldn't utilize all of them to their fullest extent. Not yet.

When they got back to the port, they wheeled the trapped boy to the ship on the dock. Sabo changed into his falcon form and flew up to the ship to get someone's attention to come and see what was going on. They were staying on the ship for now. Unlike the port city they had met on, they didn't have a building here. Not yet, at least.

But the crew had plenty of money, so it would be fine. The boy continued to shout. Luffy still had one hand's fingers crossed. He turned to the side and found a rope hanging from the deck and turned it into a string of sausages and tossed it over the side of the barrier. "Here's some food. You look hungry."

"I'm not eating that!" Luffy pouted. "You poisoned it." Luffy pointed out that he'd changed it just now. The boy frowned at him before Luffy heard his stomach rumble, and he grudgingly stuffed the food into his mouth. "Yummy, huh?" He just glared at Luffy, who shrugged it off.

Diamante was the one to come down and stood in front of the barrier. "You can take it down, Luffy," the top executive said. Luffy uncrossed his fingers, and the barrier disappeared. "So, what's the story?"

Ace explained what had happened, and Diamante looked down at the boy, who was much shorter than him, like the other three. "What's your name?"

"Law," Law replied. Diamante asked what he was there for. "To kill everyone." He looked like a wild animal, and Sabo unconsciously pulled Luffy a little closer to him. He didn't think that Law could kill Luffy, but his brother instincts kicked in regardless.

Diamante smiled at him. "How about you join us. Then you can kill anyone you want. Besides us, of course." Law demanded why on earth he would stay with them. Luffy didn't interrupt, though he wanted to tell Law how it was a better life there than being homeless and alone. "It's a better life. Just ask these three. They were homeless and hungry as well."

Ace and Sabo didn't like to be reminded about how low they'd fallen when the captain and his brother found them in the alleyway that day. It embarrassed them, and made them feel ashamed for making Lu live that life for so long, even if it was only a year. "It's a better life," Ace said simply. He still didn't plan on staying for life, but a long time still.

Law glared at them. "Fine," he spat out. Luffy beamed. Another friend! Then Law shifted and his shirt opened a little bit. Diamante looked at the white spot on his stomach. He asked Law what it was. "I'm going to die in three years anyway. I have amber lead disease," he said in a flat voice. "Until I die, I want to kill as many people as possible."

Luffy looked sad and even Ace and Sabo pitied him, even though they didn't know what amber lead disease was. Maybe that's why he was so hard and angry. Maybe he was in pain from it, and just hid it behind a mask of anger and spite. "You're sick?" Luffy asked.

Law glared at him and nodded. "I'll fix you! Don't worry!" Luffy exclaimed. Law was truly caught off guard. He told him there was no cure, and it would be pointless. "Well, do you want to die?"

They made eye contact for a long moment, Luffy's face blank, while Law looked uneasy with the question. Instead of answering, he stormed off down the dock and into town. The three brothers watched him, wondering what his answer would have been if he had given it. Ace and Sabo assumed the answer had been that he didn't know, or that he wanted to die, he just couldn't say it.


	3. As A Family

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: <3**

**rel: Thank you! I got a lot of comments worrying about things that happen in cannon, but this does not follow that at all. And yeah, the pranking the whitebeards chapter will make people laugh. Poor them lol**

**chickie434: Sadly, you have awhile to wait for those things. But look forward to them!**

#### Snow: There will be lots of focus on how law heals. I think people will be satisfied with it, so don't worry.

**The_Weird_Gril: Technically Luffy saves Law, but in a roundabout way that I think will be surprising. Just wait to find out ;)**

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**Next chapter is when Law is healed, so look forward to that! I started reposting a story that was never finished after I finished it. Go check it out! Enjoy~**

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Pity was felt by the three after Law stormed off. "Diamante, what is amber lead disease?" Ace questioned. The four walked back onto the ship, Luffy looking back, wondering where Law had gone. And the three hadn't gotten to be at their fort much. Well, they'd be there for a while, so they had time to go other days.

They all went to the galley and sat at the table. there were seats for the three specifically since the table had to be tall to accommodate the bigger members. Diamante explained about Flevance and the amber lead. The three already hated the World Government, but this just made it even worse. Now, the three pitied Law. Ace and Sabo felt bad for him. Luffy now thought he needed a friend more.

"Diamante, am I allowed to use my powers on him? Try and make him better? It's so sad, I don't want him to have to die cause of the stupid government," Luffy said in a strong voice. Sabo and Ace smiled at his kindness, glad being a pirate had not erased that part of him.

The executive nodded. "Just don't turn him into a woman." Sabo blushed when Ace looked at him and snickered. "Be careful not to kill him."

Luffy gasped. "I would never do that!"

"I know you'd never do it on purpose, and you have control over your powers well enough that I don't think you will, but I just need to say it. Doffy will be coming back soon, will you go get Law back and bring him here? I made the decision to keep him, but that was not mine to make. Doffy will no doubt accept him, but I still stepped out of line," the man said, and the boys nodded and left the room, going to where Luffy could see Law with his glare-glare fruit.

Law was on the beach, sitting in a ball, looking out at sea. He couldn't see his face too well, but did see him. "He's on the beach near our fort."

So they set out back on their way to the beach they'd found Law on. They followed the tracks from the cart they'd made. When they found him, Luffy walked up to him. "Doflamingo wants to meet you. There are some rules, okay? No hurting any of us. Don't disrespect the executives, and follow what Doflamingo says. Don't worry, we're not slaves! He's just the captain, so we gotta do what he says."

Law glared at him. "What's your name?"

"Luffy. Those are my brothers, Ace and Sabo," the youngest replied. He stuck his hand out to shake Law's. He asked if Luffy was afraid of getting sick. "It's not contingis, right?" Law looked at him in disbelief, while Sabo corrected Luffy and Ace chuckled. "Anyways, we gotta go back now."

"Lu is the nicest one on the crew, so get used to that. I'm sorry we were rude to you before," Ace said, and shook Law's hand, Sabo following suit. Law trailed behind them a ways, Luffy holding his brothers' hands. Even though they were older now, Luffy still liked physical contact with them. And Corazon, when the small boy would climb all over him.

When they arrived back on the ship, everyone was there. The three brothers hurried up the plank and onto deck, walking to where Baby 5 and Buffalo were standing. "Baby 5, we built an awesome fort in the woods. You're not allowed to come," Luffy said with a grin. The girl frowned at him and asked why he told her if she couldn't go.

He shrugged, and Baby 5 hit his head, making Luffy laugh. Blunt hits didn't hurt one bit, which was why she was able to shoot him and he'd be fine. Though it was looked down upon anyways. Law walked up next, looking on guard. He needed sleep, it was clear. Ace and Sabo watched in interest, wondering if he'd be a brat.

"So, you're Law? I hear you want to kill?" Doflamingo asked. Before Law could answer, he was grabbed by the head and thrown into the water behind the ship by Corazon. He cursed and swore, asking what the hell that was for.

Baby 5 looked over the side of the ship as Law swam back to the docks. "Corazon doesn't like kids besides Luffy! Get used to it!" Luffy giggled, glad Corazon never hurt him. And when he threw Ace and Sabo, they never hurt. And he made sure not to throw the devil fruit users into the water.

Law stormed back onto the ship, where Corazn slipped and fell on his face on deck. Law glared at him furiously, and the rest of the crew moved on from it while Law continued to stew. "Anyways, you want to join us?" the captain questioned, that ever present grin on his face. Law nodded grudgingly. "There are rules."

"Luffy told them to me. Don't hurt anyone, don't be disrespectful to the executives, and follow orders," Law said, not quite interrupting Doflamingo. Corazon shot a thumbs up to Luffy, who smiled brightly. Law watched this with narrowed eyes. Ace and Sabo knew he was wondering why Corazon was being nice to Lu but not to the other kids.

"That's right. If you follow those rules, you'll have a nice life here. I heard Luffy has promised to fix you. Good luck with that," Doflamingo said with a chuckle. Law glanced at Luffy in suspicion, but the youngest just smiled. "Boys, why don't you introduce Law to his new room?"

Ace, Sabo and Luffy stopped leaning on the railing and walked inside, assuming Law would follow, which he did. They walked through the ship and to the hall with the bedrooms. There was one for each member but the kids all shared a big room with bunk beds.

"This is our room. There are two empty beds, pick whichever you want," Sabo explained. Law looked at the bunks and it was obvious which ones were used. Baby 5's bed had a bunch of cuts and scratches when she had a bad dream and her arms turned into swords. Ace's had a bunch of burn marks on the wood, Sabo's was broken slightly from the weight of some of his animals that he lost control of in his sleep. Luffy's had terribly drawn pictures on it with a pen, and Buffalo's bed was just a mess and never made. Law chose the top bunk next to Ace.

"I wouldn't sleep there," Luffy said, raising his hands. Law asked why. "Sometimes Ace sends off lightning. It might hit you," he explained. When he chose the bunk next to Luffy's, Sabo said he shouldn't be there either. Since Luffy liked to mess with everyone with his powers, Law would be easy picking. Luffy liked to stick candy on his brother's hands. It was nothing major, and they just ate the candy once they woke up, but it was still him messing with them.

Luffy bragged about turning Sabo into a girl and Baby 5 into a boy. "I don't like boobs. They're weird," he said. Law looked horrified, and Ace and Sabo started laughing. When he chose the bed next to Baby 5's, Ace said, "She might shoot you in her sleep."

"Then where the hell should I sleep?!" he demanded in irritation. Ace pointed to the bed nearest the door. That was the safest bet. "So, devil fruits are really that hard to use?"

Luffy shook his head while Ace and Sabo nodded. Luffy had an easy time with his powers. Plus, the only one that really activated in his sleep was turning into a mochi blob. "Well, Luffy is good at his, but Ace and I still have trouble with some of them. My biggest problem is turning into an animal that's too big for where I am. Which is why my bottom bunk is a bit collapsed. Ace's logia powers are hard to control even not asleep. But we're both much better than we were before."

"I'm not allowed to learn the ones that the others have, but I can do all of the rest when I want to. Some of them are so useless! Who would want to be a jacket that someone could wear? Stupid," Luffy said. Sabo and Ace chuckled.

Sabo responded, "Well, we both have some stupid ones, too. Ace can turn into a slimy, messy, blob, and my stupidest one is turning into a massive caterpillar. Can you imagine how humiliating that would be?" Law looked grudgingly interested in the conversation.

Luffy said his favorite was making food, because food was the best. "Hey, hey wanna see what I can do?" Before anyone replied, Luffy patted his head and fell to the floor, now inside a toddler's body. "Isn't it cool!" his squeaky voice said. Then he pat himself again and turned back to his original age.

Law was speechless. "You guys are freaks." Ace glowered at him, and Luffy laughed about it. Sabo just shook his head with a sigh.

"You're just jealous cause you're weak. You couldn't even hold a knife properly," Ace snapped, very offended with being called a freak. They were powerful! Sure some of the powers were weird, but it didn't make them not powerful. Law was just a normal kid, the only one on the crew without a devil fruit. He jumped up and said, "What did you say to me?!"

Ace taunted him again, and Law tried hitting him, but his fist went right through Ace's head. "Now, now, that's no way to treat family," Ace commented, and punched Law across the room easily.

Luffy scolded Ace, but the older wasn't apologetic. Luffy ran over to Law, who had a bloody lip, and started bawling his eyes out, getting right in Law's space, getting snot and tears all over him. "Get! Off! Me!" Luffy jumped up and smiled, wiping the tears.

"All better," he said proudly, and pointed to his own lip. Law felt his and noticed the cut was gone. "See, aren't our powers cool?" Law scowled, but nodded, face red in embarrassment or anger. Ace huffed and left the room, with Sabo praising Luffy for being kind. The two left the room, leaving a steaming Law inside and alone.

-x-

Law was definitely the grumpy one of the crew. He rarely spent any time with the fellow kids, no matter how much Luffy tried to be friends with him. It usually involved Luffy grabbing him somewhere and Law throwing him off. Corazon hit him a lot, especially when he "hurt" Luffy. Law only targeted the kids, though, mostly in private. He didn't actually hurt any of them or he'd be in deep trouble.

It was clear he was the weakest of them, so Luffy helped train him. Ace and Sabo didn't know why Luffy was trying so hard with a kid who really was a jerk. But Luffy was the most compassionate of them. He felt bad for Law's past and his being sick. He didn't know how to heal him yet, but Law said he had three years until he died. Plenty of time!

Luffy made him dumbbells out of wax that he worked with. Ace sparred with him ruthlessly. But he didn't use his powers and kept his body solid to make the fights fair, even if he truly disliked him.

The newby got used to things quickly, but still isolated himself a lot. He hated Corazon, though, the most. It was clear with his glares. Luffy was glad he was never hit, not that it would hurt. The mute man did throw Ace and Sabo often, but they just laughed it off. It really was lucky they were both immune from injuries. Sabo's phoenix powers were great, and Ace's logia body was invincible to anything but haki and sea stone, so he was pretty well off as well.

Since they were still at the island they found Law on, the three brothers ran off almost daily to go to their fort, which slowly morphed into a little mansion due to Luffy's wax powers. It was three stories by the time they were leaving the island a couple months later. Law mostly went off on his own to mope.

Luffy wished he would be happier, but Ace and Sabo were unbothered by his standoffish and unfriendly attitude. They did hate him for being mean to Lu, though, when the youngest was trying so hard to help him and be his friend. But the seven year old was never deterred. Law was ten, but that didn't stop Luffy from trying to be friends.

Luffy was taking a bath with his brothers when one of his powers awakened that he hadn't used or tried to use yet. They were each lethargic in the water, but most of the family were devil fruit users, so there was no one but Law and a couple that didn't lose their energy in water.

After they were clean enough, they got out of the bath to dry off and get rest. There was a full length mirror propped against the wall in the smaller bathroom, and Luffy tripped over his shorts as he pulled them up and fell to the mirror. He was sure he was about to have his face smash into the surface, or break it to pieces and cut up his face, but his head went right through it, and he was suddenly in a huge hallway with mirrors everywhere. It was purple and he could see other people and rooms in mirrors across the hall. He pulled himself back out of the mirror and pulled his shorts up.

Ace and Sabo were shocked. They had seen the mirror turn from their reflections to a hallway. "Wow! Come see with me!" Luffy said and pulled his brothers into the mirror. They all looked at just how tall it was in awe. Thousands, maybe millions, or mirrors were everywhere. There was no place where the wall was bare.

Luffy ran around the area and looked into other mirrors, seeing people and places he'd never been to or seen before. "This is incredible! It's like a whole nother dimension!" Sabo exclaimed, and ran to the nearest mirror as well. He pressed against it, but could not enter. Luffy, on the other hand, had half of his body sticking out of one mirror.

Looked like Luffy had to be there for it to work. "Lu, why don't we go tell everyone?" Ace asked, still in awe. This could be their hangout, real privacy from the others. They could talk without risking being heard. It was wonderful and promising.

Sabo and Luffy hurried back to the original mirror, and the older two could only go through when Luffy touched them. He crawled out as well, and the three excitedly and ran to whoever they found first. It was Gladius.

"Gladius, Luffy discovered an amazing new power! Come see," Ace said, grinning widely, so happy to have this new world. But they knew they would get in trouble for hiding it, and it just wasn't worth it. Besides, no one could enter without Luffy there as well. Gladius raised his brows but agreed and they entered the bathroom.

"Why are we in the bathroom?"

"Just wait," Sabo said, and Luffy walked through the mirror. He stuck his hand out for Galdius, who was shocked, and entered the mirror world with him. He was in awe, just like the older brothers, and went to the nearest mirror. He pressed a hand against it, and then looked down at Luffy. He crouched and said, "Luffy, this power could greatly help us out. Will you be helpful to us?" he asked. Ace and Sabo knew that it didn't matter what Luffy said, they would still use it, but the youngest always wanted to be helpful, so he nodded vigorously.

"It's like a cool clubhouse for me and Ace and Sabo," he replied. "I'll be helpful, too." Gladius ruffled his hair, and asked to go get the others so they could all explore. They headed back to the ship's mirror, and fetched everyone else. It was a surprise, as Luffy had requested it be that way. But not everyone could fit into the bathroom since it was sized mostly for normal sized people.

Luffy frowned and thought for a moment. He wanted everyone to be able to fit and come in. Suddenly, a huge mirror appeared in front of him. It was big enough for the executives. They all entered the mirror world, Luffy keeping his hand out for the next person to come inside. Never had any of them been so awed by a power he awakened.

Baby 5, Buffalo and even Law ran off to look into each mirror. Some people saw them from their homes and screamed. Baby 5 laughed, while the adults were all sharing looks. Ace and Sabo recognized them. They would use Luffy's power for their work. But really, considering that they were helping take care of the boys and nurture their powers, it was a trade off that made sense.

And Luffy loved being helpful, so he would be happy with it. "This is amazing, Luffy. Good job," Doflamingo said, sounding sincere. Luffy beamed. They all left the mirror world after exploring for a while, finding out that Luffy could ask the mirrors for directions.

Everyone went to bed happy, as it had been late when Luffy fell into the mirror. In the night, Luffy climbed onto Law's bed, who was asleep. "Luffy? Get away, what are you doing?" he hissed.

"I was thinking. Since that cool power came, maybe I can save you soon if more awaken faster," he said quietly. Law lost his glare and looked confused.

"You still want to help me get better?" Luffy was surprised and looked almost offended.

"Of course! I never back down on promises. I'll get you better no matter what it takes. Kay, that's all I had to say. Night!" and he wandered back to his bed and bundled under the blankets, not hearing the sniffling coming from Law's direction.

The next day, they landed on an island, and set off to explore. Ace and Sabo didn't understand why Law came with them. He didn't mention the night before, so the change was a bit strange. He didn't yell at Luffy, even though he pushed him away if he got too close. Baby 5 and Buffalo met up with them after exploring the little town.

They were allowed to explore, but had a limit to how far they could go from the ship. The children stopped at a park and Luffy took some bottles out of the trash and turned them into food for them all to eat. They sat on the grass, laughing and talking. The brothers really did like their fellow kid pirates. They were a second family to them. Siblings and close friends.

Well, except Law, who rarely talked without being spoken to. They noticed that there were a lot of pirates around, but none bothered them until Ace took out the money they had and started counting it. A man walked up with a gun and crouched down. "Hey, kids. Why don't you give us that money and no one will get hurt?" he asked in a mocking voice.

They all looked unimpressed. "Go away, shit head," Ace said flippantly. When the man grew angry, Luffy created a barrier and slammed it into him. He was interrupting their fun conversations, and seemed to threaten his brothers and friends.

"A devil fruit user?" he growled.

"Luffy, take down the barrier," Baby 5 instructed, and the youngest did so. Baby 5 turned her arm into a revolver and shot the man in the chest three times. "Weakling." But others saw this, and shouted about their friend, though no one went to check if he was still alive. Law looked angry but uneasy. He was the only one without a devil fruit.

Luffy smiled at him and said, "Don't worry, we'll protect you!" Law blushed in shame at being the only one who couldn't fight back well. The kids stood up, Ace and Sabo were in the front, being the oldest.

"How dare you attack our crewmate!" one said angrily. None of the children were worried. They were strong, and Law knew they wouldn't let anyone attack him and so he was unafraid as well. Even as a crowd of pirates came, they were unfazed.

Ace grinned and said, "Wanna see who can take out more? A little competition?" The children grinned. "Winner gets to spend the rest of the money however they want."

"Deal!" Then it turned into an all out massacre with the devil fruit user children winning in a pitiful way for the enemy pirates. Luffy was never involved in the big fights, so it was pleasant to see he was doing well at it. His favorite move was slamming barriers into people or tripping them with hands he grew on the ground. Ace favored electrocuting the enemies while Baby 5 shot as many headshots as she could.

Luffy made Law a pipe out of wax, the only weapon he knew to make, and he joined in. He didn't get many kills, but he did do some. Sabo turned into a flaming leopard and attacked ruthlessly, all swords and bullets going straight through them. By the time it was over, bodies were everywhere. They counted up who won, and Luffy did.

They all huffed, irritated he had done so well for his first "fight". He looked at the money with triumph. "I'll go get Law's hat cleaned!"

"Huh? Why?" Sabo wondered.

"Cause it's dirty and important to him. He hits me if I touch it," Luffy replied. Law spoke up and said that Luffy didn't need to do that. But Luffy just grinned, and said he wanted to.

While they were speaking, the captain of the mob of pirates came out and shouted at all of his crew. The majority of them were dead. Ace would burn the bodies later so they didn't stink up the park. "What have you done, you little shits?!" he shouted. The man was blonde, with an open shirt. He had a tiny nose and a scar on his face.

Baby 5 said, "They attacked first. It was self defense," while flipping her hair. The man was furious, and seemed to grow springs on his legs before he shot at them. Luffy easily crossed his fingers, and the devil fruit user slammed into the barrier, throwing him backwards, rolling a few times as he hit the ground hard.

Ace scoffed. "You're the captain? No wonder your crew was weak," he taunted. "Want me to dispose of their bodies? It won't make much of a mess," the logia said, his hand on fire. But then Diamante came over, stepping to the side of the mass of bodies.

"What happened?" he asked curiously, not bothered at all by the scene. Many of the bodies were burnt or bloody. Baby 5 explained the situation, and the man glared at the fallen pirate captain. He brought out his sword and stabbed the man in the shoulder. He screamed.

"Doffy isn't going to like this. We'll keep him here to be punished by him. But great job, you're all so strong," he praised. Luffy beamed. Law handed him back the pipe, which had some blood on it.

He thanked Luffy for it, who dissolved it easily. Sabo grinned, and said, "Pipes are good to work with, aren't they? They were our first weapons before we ate the fruits." Law nodded, and then insisted that Luffy didn't need to clean his hat. The youngest frowned, and protested that he wanted to so he would. He told Law to not be selfish and let him make all the decisions.

"That makes you the most selfish!" Luffy giggled. Law sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're going to be the death of me, Luffy-ya." Luffy grinned.

"No, I'll be the life of you! Remember, I'm gonna fix you!"

Law gave a tired smile.

When Doffy got back, with much of the rest of the family, he got the full story from Ace. The enemy had since stood up, and looked shocked and horrified when the captain came into view. He was glaring, veins visible on his forehead. "Did you try and hurt these children?" he asked in a cold voice.

"Doflamingo! My crew attacked first, it seems," he said, suddenly a completely different person than he was before the executives arrived. Baby 5 scoffed and pointed out that he tried to hurt them, only for Luffy to repel him. The captain turned back to the injured man and walked over, kicking his face.

"No one will get away with attempting to hurt my family." Corazon had come over, and was glaring equally, but letting his brother do the work.

The soon to be dead-man bowed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know!" The kids frowned, wondering why he suddenly changed like that. By now all of the family was there, the highest executives towering above everyone else. They all looked angry, and Luffy couldn't help but feel happy that they cared about them like this.

Ace and Sabo were frankly surprised with the reaction they were getting from being threatened. They always thought they were just there to be used. But things seemed to be changing. They didn't know how to feel about it. But there was one constant. Always there, but never spoken. They were not bound to the Donquixote family for forever. But would Luffy want to leave? No doubt they'd need to wait at least another decade.

But as long as they were cared for like this, they could wait. "Doflamingo-san, I came to this island to offer to become a subordinate. My name is Bellamy. I'm a devil fruit user, I could be of use to you!" But he was shaking in fear.

"But, I don't need you. I don't care if you have a devil fruit, my family already has it no doubt. And you see, I don't let anyone get away with attempting to hurt family. Even if you didn't do that, I wouldn't accept you or your dead crew. But I've decided not to kill you. Your punishment is to not have a crew, or a ship, and to feel shame and guilt over your choices," the captain said in a smug voice, the ever present smile visible.

Tears were in Bellamy's eyes, and Luffy almost felt pity for him. Giolla put her hand on Luffy's shoulder. "Do not feel bad for your enemies, Luffy. They could take advantage of that." Luffy nodded, but Ace took his hand discreetly.

"Let's go, our business here is done. Ace, we're going to go burn down their ship. The Bellamy pirates are over."

"Oh! I promised to get Law's hat clean. Can we come meet you later, please?" Luffy asked in a respectful and innocent voice. Corazon smiled at him warmly, but then grabbed Ace and threw him a couple yards away. Luffy giggled.

Doflaimngo nodded. "Good job, Luffy. Showing your family such kindness. You sure are a good boy." Luffy beamed and nodded. Ace and Sabo looked hesitant, but they now knew Luffy would be fine. And Law would keep him out of trouble. Luffy looked down at the wad of bills and shoved them back in his pocket.

Law was quiet behind him while Luffy asked for directions to a cleaning place. They pointed him to a dry cleaners. "Luffy-ya, thank you for being nice. I've been nothing but a jerk to you." Luffy turned around, surprised by the words. But he grinned.

"Don't thank me, that's what friends and family does, right?" he asked, and turned back around. "And I got a first plan on how to fix you! We have to start soon, though," he added. Law nodded, and pulled the rim of his hat over his eyes.

When they arrived at the dry cleaners, Law reluctantly gave his hat to the worker, and Luffy paid him. "Be careful with it or we'll get angry," the boy said sternly. "Do you want to stay and wait?" But the worker said that it would take 24 hours for the hat to be done, since it was quite dirty.

Law was hesitant, but Luffy told him he'd keep an eye on it with his powers. "Or we don't have to do it. But I don't think my bubbles are safe for it cause I can't really control what they are. They might damage it." But Law shook his head. Saying that he could wait for it to be done. Luffy smiled and nodded.

The two then walked back to the port, to the plume of smoke that was no doubt the burning ship.

That night, Luffy spent a large chunk of it crying inside the mirror world, collecting the tears in a little vial. It took a couple hours to get enough, but when he left the mirror with bright red eyes and a stuffy nose, the first person he ran into was Baby 5. "Luffy! What's wrong, are you okay?" she asked in worry.

Luffy nodded and held up the vial of liquid. "My first attempt at fixing Law," he said. Baby 5 let out a sigh, glad Luffy was fine. "I'm heading to bed, the others are getting ready as well. We have a mission tomorrow." Luffy nodded and followed her into the bedroom. They were going to use his new power for the first time tomorrow, and he needed a lot of sleep. But first, he had to do his first attempt to heal his friend.

He sat on Law's bed and thrusted the vial into Law's hands, who was almost asleep. "Drink this." Law rubbed his eyes and asked what it was. "My tears. They're healing, remember?" Law did not want to drink them, that was clear. But it was a way for him to get better, so of course he drank them. The whole vial. "It took forever for me to cry that much. Some snot might have gotten in it." Law looked like he was going to vomit at the words. "Just kidding!" he giggled and ran to his bed.

The older huffed, but went back to bed.


	4. Saving Law

**rel: Thank you! I'm building up their relationship so they're close friends and care about each other before any romance starts. I like how they turned out to be honest.**

#### Exogot7teenbangtanboys: <3 <3

#### Eve: Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

#### Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Thank you.

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**And here we are at an important chapter! It's shorter, so sorry about that. Hopefully the content will make up for the length. I finished college yesterday and feel sad and happy at the same time. So, I have more time to write (not that I didn't have any before). Anyways, enjoy~**

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The next morning, Law still had the spots, so the tears didn't work. Since the tears healed instantly, Law would have been fixed quickly. Luffy pouted at it, and Law looked upset. "Don't worry. I'll learn more powers. Your hat is done. We can go get it on our mission. I found the mirror in that building's bathroom. A short cut." Law nodded.

Ace and Sabo hugged Luffy, praising his kindness. They could see the change in Law. Of course Luffy was becoming his friend. Luffy was difficult to not like. They all got dressed and ready, the family having their weapons if they weren't devil fruit wielders. Luffy and Law stopped at the mirror Luffy had left a shoe at and crawled into the bathroom. It was too early, and the place was closed. No one was there.

They searched for Law's hat, and found it in a cubby, fully dry and clean. It was bright white. "That looks much better," Luffy said with a smile. "Onwards to the mission!" Law followed him wordlessly, stroking his very soft hat, which had been matted before.

Luffy's involvement in the mission was just using his mirror powers. He was stuck in the mirror world while the others did the fighting. Fighting the pirates had been fun, but Luffy didn't feel any real inclination to do it again. He liked being useful in other ways. So he waited by himself in the mirror world, attempting to master some new powers.

He kept using the horm-horm power that he could change genders with to try and find some sort of cure. He continued to inject himself with whatever there was. He turned into a woman, he turned very large, grew chest hair before it disappeared, grew sleepy, felt really happy, and then off the walls energetic. Then there was one that was incredibly painful, but passed in maybe a minute. Well, he wouldn't ever use that one again! None of it would help Law. He pouted. By then he had little red marks all over his body, and was exhausted. So he took a nap until a tap was made against the mirror.

He put his hand through, where his pirate family came in, all of them carrying huge chests of treasure. Ace had a huge one on his shoulder. Sabo was carrying a sack of what looked like coins. Luffy wished he could have helped. Law said, "Don't worry, Luffy-ya, you were helpful." Ace and Sabo scowled at him for saying that before they could. Law seemed really happy about his hat, and Luffy was glad.

When they got back to the ship, they piled the treasure in the treasure room, which was massive and filled to the brim. "The mirror shortcut sure is helpful, Luffy. Thank you," Diamante said and Corazon gave him a thumbs up. He looked a bit nervous, but no one noticed besides Luffy. Maybe something happened during the mission?

"Luffy, what's with all the red marks?" Sabo asked once the treasure was stashed and dinner was being made by their chef. He picked up Luffy's arm to see all of the tiny puncture wounds. The kids were around, wondering as well.

The youngest said, "I was trying to find a good hormone so I could treat Law. They're weird, but I don't think I found one helpful." He pouted and kicked the floor. Ace shot Law a dirty look, since Luffy was getting hurt over him, but Sabo scolded him.

"Luffy thinks Law is his friend, and he's trying to help him. Don't mess with it," the blonde said harshly, making Ace look down in slight shame. They didn't see Law wince at his choice of words behind them. "So, any of them besides turning into a woman?" Sabo questioned, though he was still trauamtized by being turned into the opposite sex. Baby 5 was just as disturbed.

Luffy nodded. "Lots of them! I grew big, I got all hairy, really happy, and then I was super energetic. Nothing helpful, though. But I'll just look for another fruit power to master. If I can't save Law then no one can and that's unastepical!" Ace corrected him with a fond smile. "Yeah, that."

But Luffy didn't learn any more helpful fruits for a while. While his brothers mastered more, catching up to Luffy, he grew impatient with them. He knew all of them, and the only ones he could think of working was the ope-ope fruit but he had no idea how he could use it to help his friend, who was growing more and more spots.

He felt useless, and Law insisted that it wasn't his job to heal him. He was nice to Luffy now, unlike to the other kids. Luffy insisted back that he would fix him, and that he should stop trying to get him to stop. "You're my friend, I don't want you to die," Luffy would say in an almost disapproving way. Offended that Law thought he would just give up on him.

He had started helping out in the missions, more than just the mirror world. He grew taller, and Ace and Sabo did as well. Luffy was now nine and a half, while his brothers, Law and Baby 5 were all now twelve. Buffalo was eleven. They were all growing in their powers.

But it was during a mission to destroy an entire island that the boys became known in the world. After all, it was hard to ignore an entire island being destroyed with earthquakes. Luffy had acquired Whitebeard's power, while Sabo was seen to have his first mate's power. Sabo's preferred form was now the phoenix.

Ace had been able to use the light-light fruit as best as he could. Doflamingo bragged about their abilities, praising them for their development, at every turn. But now the world knew about the brothers. Now they had to be careful. The government would no doubt be after them. Especially as they were pirates and under Doflamingo, a potential warlord. The offer had been given to him by the marines. There was some sort of plan that he and the executives were plotting, but the kids weren't allowed to know. And Luffy knew he'd be punished if he listened in.

Ace and Sabo were sparring with each other while Luffy was attempting to form poison. He had a barrier around him so nothing escaped. He was in a sour mood. Law had a white spot on his face now. It had been too long, and Luffy had been unable to activate the ope-ope fruit. He was angry at himself. Why couldn't he do it?

And why was he the only one who seemed to truly care about getting him cured? It wasn't fair. No one else was trying to heal him, and so he felt it was all up to him now. While he promised so many times to fix Law, he didn't know if he could.

It upset him greatly. He sighed and tossed the poison into the ocean, cleaning his hands with the bubble fruit, washing it away in the soap coming from his body. He leaned against the railing, looking down on the ocean below. One year left.

Ace and Sabo stopped sparring and walked to him, reading his body language. Angry tears dripped down his face, dripping into the ocean, mixing with the other salty water. He wiped his eyes, and Sabo hugged him from behind. "Don't lose hope, Lu," Sabo said quietly. Ace took his hand, and Luffy sniffled.

"I don't want him to die. I promised that I'd fix him, but nothing is working!" he lamented. Ace rubbed his back, but neither of them had anything to say. Law was watching from the distance, looking angry, too. But not at Luffy.

Luffy wiped the tears away, and sat back down, putting his face in his hands, breathing deeply. Coazon walked over and offered him comfort by sitting and putting his arm around Luffy's skinny shoulders. Baby 5 and Diamante came over as well. "Don't give up, Luffy," Diamante said. But he didn't tell him he could do it. No one encouraged him like that anymore, and it hurt him. But he could only imagine that it hurt Law more.

Luffy was ten when the first sign of the ope-ope fruit appeared. He'd developed almost every power by then, besides those he was not allowed to use and the ones he deemed useless. He wasn't a master at all of them, obviously. But he had no idea how to help with the ope-ope fruit. All he could do was form a small dome of blue light. He could teleport minor objects, but he had no idea how it was used to fix someone.

Doctors were the best at it apparently, but he wasn't a doctor. And Law couldn't instruct him on how to do surgery. It was hopeless. The night he realized it was hopeless was one of the darkest. He retreated into the mirror world and threw wax balls at the mirrors, screaming angrily. He loved Law like a brother. Like Baby 5 was his sister.

It was his fault Law was going to die. There was nothing he could do. If only he knew how to do surgery like Law did. He screamed for a while longer before freezing, breathing heavily and looking at his hands. He made the dome again. It was tiring. But Law was tired all the time, covered in white by now. He was dying slowly, and he tried to hide his pain but it was there.

Suddenly an idea came to him, and his eyes widened. He ran back out of the mirror world and to the trunk at the end of Sabo's bed that had the devil fruit encyclopedia, which was worn and had tons of notes scribbled in the margins. It was well-used over the years of the boys developing their powers. Over four years since they arrived, over two years since Law did. He was wrong. Law's calculation was way off, Luffy knew that.

He searched through the pages for the paramecias and found what he was looking for. It was a small devil fruit, in the shape of a heart. But did anyone else have it? Was it eaten by someone else? It couldn't be, he had an idea, it _had_ to work. Nothing else was! It was hopeless if this didn't work.

Luffy promised and he wouldn't break that promise, even if he had to kill the current user and find the fruit once it reformed. Everyone was eating dinner, and Luffy had asked them to leave him be for the rest of the night. Ace and Sabo had been reluctant, but Doflamingo had told them Luffy needed space. So they gave it to him.

Luffy retreated back into the mirror world, bringing a pillow, and laid on his back, closing his eyes. He spent hours searching the North and West Blues for the ope-ope fruit. His original limit had been passed many months ago, and he could search all of the North Blue and a small part of the nearest Blue. He searched each house, each city, each ship, looking for the only thing that could help Law.

After seven hours and a painful headache later, he'd found it. It was in a chest on a pirate ship headed to an island called "Swallow Island". It was in the North Blue, which was great! Not that it really mattered when he had the mirror world. He was exhausted, but determined, and injected himself with adrenaline.

He left the mirror world, and everyone was asleep. The kids' bedroom was silent besides snores. Luffy didn't want anyone else to know, so he didn't tell his brothers or the executives. He might get in trouble later, but it was to save Law.

So, he hurried to Law's bed and shook his awake. "Luffy-ya-" but Luffy put a finger to his lips. He walked out of the room and gestured for Law to follow, who got up and did so, albeit hesitantly and suspiciously. Luffy took him into the mirror world. "What is it?" Law questioned.

"We're going on a secret mission. I want you to come with me," Luffy explained seriously. He was rarely this serious.

"What are you talking about?" Law wondered, clearly confused. Luffy looked down.

"I can't save you. I don't know how to do surgeries or cure sick people. I can only heal simple wounds and help them work if they are injured. I know how to save you. You know doctor stuff, right?" Law nodded, still confused. "We're going to get _you_ the ope-ope fruit so you can heal yourself."

Law was shocked. "It will take forever to find that!"

"I found it. I used my sight thing to find it. I know where it is, and we can go to it through the mirror world. It will work, I know it will," Luffy said with vigor. Law had tears in his eyes. He looked down, pulling his hat over his eyes. He was much taller than Luffy, who was still small for his age.

His voice trembled and he asked, "Why do you go so far for me, Luffy-ya? I've been cold to you for so long. Why do you go through all of this trouble?"

"You're my friend! I think of you like a brother! Of course I'm going to do anything to help you! And I promised, remember? I never break my promises and this is the only way to do it! I don't care if you protest, I'm doing it anyway. I want you to come with me, but if you don't want to I'll go by myself," Luffy said in a hard voice.

Law cried harder, and Luffy hugged him. "C'mon, let's go," he said, though in a nicer voice. Law nodded, wiping the tears. Luffy made him a pipe with spikes on it in case they had to fight. "Mirrors, find me Swallow Island!" he called. He heard voices in the distance, and he and Law ran to it, to find a mirror leading to a bathroom in a mansion on Swallow Island. "Hang on for a minute," he said to Law.

The paramecia closed his eyes and saw the crest with the fruit in it being brought onto the snowy island, to a mansion on the top of the hill. "Okay, I found it. It's in a pirate's chest, but we can go get it. I have a plan!" Luffy said with a bright smile. "Ready?" he asked. Law nodded, gripping the pipe tighter, a determined face on.

They both crawled through the mirror, and Luffy used his power to find the layout of the mansion. Of course it had mirrors in it. Every home did, which was why there were millions of mirrors in that dimension. Luffy silenced both of them, though they could speak to each other. Nothing they touched would make a sound.

Luffy crouched down, and made a clone of himself, where it walked away. It had a time limit, so they had to be quick. Once it was far from them, it started to shout and make noise. Law followed Luffy closely. They found a large room, bright with lamps and with the fruit's chest guarded heavily. Much of the people inside the mansion went off to clone Luffy.

He was going to be exhausted after it, but we made a bomb out of the air, and placed it in another room. Law probably wondered what he was even there for, but didn't ask. The wall exploded, and Luffy made a barrier to protect himself and Law from shrapnel.

Clone Luffy had disappeared. "Law, distract them for a little bit," Luffy said, and turned invisible before he crept into the main room, walking between pirates, holding his breath. He touched none of them, sweating profusely and shaking. He only had one chance to get it. People flocked to one another, seeing if everyone was alright.

Law was making noise in another room, and Luffy would be back soon. But Law was smart, he wouldn't get hurt. Truthfully, Luffy knew he could have done this himself. But Law hated that Luffy was going to save him by himself. He always asked if there was any way he could help Luffy out. There never was, but this time, Luffy had him help.

He reached the chest and stuck an invisible wax key into it, opening it silently and grabbing the tiny fruit, tears in his eyes, and stuffed it into his pocket, closing the chest again. He ran through the mansion, and found Law. He was fighting enemies, and Luffy helped to kick them away before the two fled the scene and jumped into a mirror Luffy formed.

He landed hard on the floor, and started laughing. "I got it!" he shouted, and thrust the fruit into the air, panting and laying on his back. He handed Law the fruit, who got on his knees and hugged the younger. "Eat it, what are you waiting for?" Luffy asked, exhausted. Law nodded and ate it whole. It was disgusting, Luffy remembered.

The youngest finally fell asleep, hours of missed sleep and physical labor catching up with him. Law carried him on his back to the mirror that was painted around so they could find it easily. When they arrived back at the mirror, Law woke Luffy up and had him take them back through the mirror.

Nobody had noticed them missing, and the whole thing had only taken maybe half an hour. Law carried the sleeping boy to his bed and tucked him in, while he went back to his bed, though he didn't sleep.

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**And Luffy did end up saving Law, but not directly. I hope that's satisfying, I know some were worried about how the saving would turn out. Law will save himself! I was going to make it so Luffy saved him by learning the ope-ope himself, but early on I realized that would be kinda boring and Luffy didn't know anything medical. So, Law will be healed by his own skill! And then the rest of the story starts! The childhood section is almost over.**


	5. The Ultimate Betrayal

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Thanks! This chapter has a lot of stuff happen as well.**

**2020: Thank you!**

**rel: Thank you. Law is Luffy's closest friend, so he'd go through anything to save him. Which is relevant in this chapter quite a bit.**

**chick434: Thanks. Yeah it would be a lot more disappointing if Law didn't get the fruit, and he'd be pretty useless for the rest of the story if he didn't have the ope-ope power.**

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**Major turning point in this chapter. Shit hits the fan, and the LawLu finally starts. Or at least, hints of it form. Still awhile until fullblown LaLu. Just some fluff, and a lot of drama and betrayal in this chapter. Sorry I'm posting so late! I was drawing all day! Better late than never and it's** **_technically_ ** **the right day to post. Anyways, enjoy~**

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The next day, Luffy woke up happy, and Law was too. He was smiling, which concerned everybody. "Are you feeling better, Luffy?" Giolla asked. He nodded and stuffed another pancake in his mouth.

"I saved Law last night. We went on a secret mission!" Luffy announced. The others thought he must have had a dream.

Diamante asked, "Do you have any more theories?" Luffy was confused, he'd just told them. He blinked twice and looked around. He shared a look with Law, who shrugged.

"I just told you. We went on a mission through the mirror world to find the ope-ope fruit. I can't save him but he could save himself. He knows doctor stuff, right?" he asked. The table went silent. Luffy blinked twice. No one said anything for a good minute before everyone said, "WHAT?!" Luffy laughed. "It's because you've all taught me so much and we snuck into the mansion and stole it! They didn't even see me."

"B-But, how did you get there? How did you find it?!" Giolla questioned. Everyone was baffled, but Luffy didn't notice the conflicting expression on Doflamingo's face. He was upset but also looked eager.

Luffy explained the whole process to them, from start to finish. Ace and Sabo were _furious._ Luffy left, endangering his life, without telling them?! Luffy truly didn't understand why they were mad. Everything worked out, right? Why was anyone angry?

When they started yelling at him, the captain raised his hand to quiet them, though they continued to steam. "You will be on cleaning duty for the next month, Law and Luffy. We are happy that you have saved Law, but you should not have gone off on your own without telling anyone." He said it sternly, but had a smile on.

Luffy accepted the punishment happily. He saved Law. Well, Law had to save himself first, but it would work out. The pirates crowded into the infirmary when Law attempted to work on himself. He caught onto it quickly and finally, the spots left. All of the white faded from his skin, and he stared down at his body in shock and awe. He was cured. Amber lead disease was incurable, and he was cured. All thanks to Luffy, who on a whim all those years ago decided he wanted to help the rude boy who'd hated him.

The room cheered, and Law was crying into his hands. Luffy was laughing, so happy. It was worth it to have to do cleaning duty. Ace and Sabo hugged Luffy, calling him a hero. The youngest enjoyed all of the positive attention.

As he and Law cleaned the ship, did the dishes, and did the laundry, Law thanked him over and over. "I promised. I told you I don't break promises," he said simply. "What is family for if not helping each other like this?" Law just smiled and nodded. No one had ever seen him so happy. Luffy enjoyed it greatly.

"Now you have a cool devil fruit, too. And we can help teach you how to do it. And we can learn the ope-ope fruit together! It seems cool," Luffy said, sitting on the railing and looking out at the ocean with Law leaning against the railing as well. Ace and Sabo were next to Luffy, still angry at him, but happy and proud as well. He'd done the impossible. Found a way to cure an incurable disease.

-x-

"Room."

"Dome!"

"Shambles."

"Switch!"

Luffy and Law battled on deck, using the power against one another. They had different names for their attacks, but Law was faster and his fruit could make the room larger. He beat Luffy at it, though he had fun with it regardless. It had been a year since Law was cured, and he was a fast learner just like Luffy was.

Law had adopted a sword, and used it with his power, which was another reason he beat Luffy at it. Luffy didn't wield weapons like that, but Law was able to manipulate things in the room he made. But they could only use it on one another since they both agreed to break the rule and use the fruit against one another.

Luffy would constantly switch Law around with other things on deck or in the bedroom. They were close to best friends now, always hanging out together. Law accompanied Luffy and his brothers when they stopped on islands.

They were in the Grand Line now, so they had to be strong. So many more pirates attacked their ship, so Luffy got to fight now and Law had fun chopping people up into pieces and dumping their living bodies into the water. Luffy couldn't do that, but it was fun to watch. Ace, Luffy and Sabo were wanted by the government, only alive. But they weren't concerned. It was satisfying that the government was so afraid of them.

After all, Sabo could turn into a flaming dragon, Ace could use all of the admirals' powers, and Luffy had Whitebeard's power. Not to mention the dozens of other, strong ones. It was awesome. But it was contradictory when Doflamingo became a warlord, so no one could go after the boys. Well, the government couldn't, but regular pirates wanting their bounties tried to steal them.

Luffy enjoyed tormenting those who threatened him and his brothers. Law also tried to protect Luffy with his powers, but more than once Luffy had grown irritated and _might_ have turned him into a woman as punishment. Because they used their powers on one another, Luffy used whatever he wanted to. But he wasn't overly cruel. The pranks were insufferable for Law, but he put up with them.

More members had joined the family. Sugar, who had the hobby-hobby fruit, Delinger, a half-fishman child, and Monet, a logia. Ace had mastered his snow power, so both of them had it. Luffy had not worked on the hobby-hobby fruit, finding it an evil ability. It was cruel, to turn someone into a toy and them not being remembered by anyone else.

But, their next mission would use it exclusively. They were still in Paradise, but heading to the New World to take over a country named Dressrosa. Luffy couldn't wait to have his own room in a nice castle, as the children were promised. Well, Luffy would share with Ace and Sabo. Law seemed sad about having his own room, and Luffy wondered why. Luffy always pranked him in the middle of the night. Why would he miss that?

The kids all couldn't wait to be on land again. They all had devil fruits that were hard to use on a ship, besides Law, so they looked forward to having more room and space. Monet was at Dressrosa ahead of time to get things ready. The kids weren't told the whole plan, so they'd just enter the palace in a group while the top executives did all the real work. Things were going to get real exciting once they entered the New World.

-x-

"That's a mess. Who's gonna put out the fires?" Luffy wondered as he and the others watched the fires spread in the country they were taking over. It was a mess, with people running around everywhere. They didn't know what was going on, but watched from a large window in the King's bedroom.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll help out with that," Ace replied, leaning against the wall. The teen lit his hand on fire. "It'll be weird for me to put _out_ fires," he commented. Luffy didn't like the view, the flames, so he went to the king's bed and began jumping on it with Delinger, who was six years younger than Luffy was. He was now the youngest of them all. Luffy didn't like that, but there was nothing to do about it.

Law was exploring the rest of the floor with Baby 5. All of the guards in the palace were either outside or trapped to the walls with hardened candy or wax. They were gagged with mochi mostly. Luffy's powers were helpful in many ways, very versatile. They continued to watch the fires burn before Luffy and his brothers left to go pick a bedroom to share. Already the castle was nicer than on the ship.

They passed the princess, who was very upset. Obviously, for her life was being ripped away. Luffy couldn't help but feel bad for her but had nothing to say that would make anything better. So he walked past her, Ace's hand on his head. He knew it was hard for Luffy to see this stuff. But Luffy was used to this. It was most of his life, living with the Donquixote pirates. "Don't think too hard about it. There's nothing we can do to change it even if we wanted to. We're just lucky we don't have to take part in the cruel stuff."

"Ace is right," Sabo said, and Luffy nodded. He understood and was glad he didn't need to do anything cruel to anyone. They were just to wait. The others who weren't the kids' group were out doing their own things in the castle. The three came across Law, who was walking around with his sword. He didn't have anything to put his sword on so he carried it everywhere. Luffy thought that was a bit stupid, but Law said it was easier to use like that.

"Find a room you want?" Sabo asked, and Law nodded.

"The bedrooms are in that hallway. There's a really big one I think you three would be comfortable using," he said. "I'm gonna go look around some more. The rooms Baby 5 and I chose had X's on the doors."

Ace thanked him for the information, and the three went in the direction they were directed to. They found the rooms and Luffy peeked into the one Law claimed. "Aw, he got the good view!" Luffy complained, walking in and seeing the view of the sea, instead of the view of the island.

Sabo said, "First come first serve. Besides, our room isn't too bad anyway." Luffy excitedly bounded across the hall into the big room they'd be sharing. It was so much bigger than their room on the ship. The floor was carpet and the beds were huge and nice. Seemed like this room had been for siblings. Luffy claimed the bed near the window. They would need to add another bed in there.

They left the room to look for more beds, and Luffy grinned. "I can get a bed to our room super easy." Sabo and Ace raised their eyebrows and Luffy giggled. He formed his dome and said, "Switch!" and the bed left the room they were in and landed in the hallway, a potted plant hitting the floor after it was swapped with the bed.

He did the same two more times before it was settled in the bedroom. Across from the other two beds. "I'm happy we're still sharing," Luffy said as he laid on his back on the plush bed. "I like everyone, and I'm close to them like family, but you guys will always be first."

Ace and Sabo felt warm with the words. They both walked over and sat next to him before flopping down on their backs. The two thirteen year olds and ten year old laid on the big bed, and they took each others' hands. Ace said, "Luffy, we don't want to stay here forever. We want to be strong enough to leave on our own. Go be ourselves, maybe from our own crew. Go on adventures where we get to pick where. Would you be okay with that? It won't be for a couple years at least." Now that Ace said it, there was no taking it back.

Luffy was silent for a minute. "I'd go with you. Can we bring Law?" he asked. Ace and Sabo shared a look.

"If he wants that, then we won't stop him," Sabo replied. "Don't tell anyone else about our plan, okay?" Luffy nodded. "Promise?"

Luffy grinned. "I promise. We'll be super pirates!" He laughed and Ace jumped on him and started tickling him mercilessly as he screamed and laughed. Sabo joined in, and Luffy was crying before he activated the dome and switched places with a pillow.

Sabo and Ace looked at him. "Was that a challenge, little brother?" Ace asked. Luffy squealed and ran from the room, though he was a bit tired from using the ope-ope fruit. He ran into Law on his way and crashed into him.

"Luffy-ya, why are you running?" Law asked a bit irate with being crashed into.

"They're trying to get me!" Luffy exclaimed, and Law drew his sword.

"Who? The guards?" he asked in a hard voice. But then he looked embarrassed when Ace and Sabo came around the corner, Sabo in phoenix form and Ace made of lightning. Luffy ran off, screaming.

"You'll never get away from us, little brother!" Sabo shouted, and there was a crashing noise as all three of them tumbled down the stairs and landed in a heap.

"Are you guys okay?" Law called from above. But all three of them were perfectly fine. Luffy wordlessly made the dome and swapped Law with Sabo's boot. He landed on top of them with an "oof!". Luffy trapped him to the ground with mochi.

Ace and Sabo were shocked when Luffy started tickling Law, who kept his face scrunched up but then started to laugh hysterically. Ace and Sabo burst into laughter as well. Before Law broke out of the mochi, which had been thin. "I'm going to kill you, Luffy-ya!" he shouted, and the chase began again, only with one more person.

Even as the city burned and people screamed and cried, the Don Quixote pirates were enjoying their new home.

-x-

Luffy and Law sat in the stands of the colosseum, watching gladiators fight while Luffy ate a bag of popcorn. "Why do I have to be here again?" Law asked, sounding bored beyond belief.

The fifteen year old said, "Cause Ace and Sabo couldn't make it. I didn't want to come alone." Law sighed and stole a piece of popcorn from Luffy's box. He was offended by it, and turned his fingers into needles.

"Don't you fucking _dare,"_ Law hissed. Luffy stabbed him with it, grinning widely. But he didn't do anything mean. He just injected him with dopamine. Law had a lazy smile on as he watched the fighting. Luffy giggled from his seat. It would wear off and Law would be angry, but he did it all the time. Law used his powers as punishment for Luffy as well. More than once he'd chopped off a finger or two.

Of course it was always in his "room", and never painful or permanent. Luffy's "attacks" were much more varied. But neither of them told the other to stop, or they would. Though Luffy would be sad about it. He ate happily while Law was still high off the dopamine, watching the colosseum happily, looking a bit sleepy. Luffy was so glad when he was able to master the most useful of the hormones for that fruit. Dopamine, adrenaline and the amazing, gender-changing hormone. Sometimes Luffy would go around as a woman just to throw his friends and family off.

Since there were just so many executives on the island, the brothers and Law really got to do whatever they wanted, which was _awesome!_ And the four were well liked by the humans. The toys, it was unclear. The contract didn't let them rebel against anyone of the pirates, but Luffy did his best to make everyone happy. Slave toys or not.

Law finally came off of the dopamine high and punched Luffy in the face, knocking him into a crowd of people. He glowered and approached Luffy, who changed his face to a random stranger's. But Law still kicked his face. "I know it's you! You're wearing the same outfit!" Luffy giggled and floated away. "Bye bye, Law-kun!"

"I don't think so! Room!" and Luffy was switched with the bag of popcorn. They weren't paying attention to the citizens and toys they were bothering. Law swung Luffy under his arm and shambled them outside and out of the colosseum. Luffy giggled and Law dumped him on the ground. "Stop injecting me with stuff!"

Luffy pouted at the seventeen and a half year old. "I made you happy! Isn't that a good thing? You're always grumpy, so I made you happy," Luffy whined and stood up, dusting his shorts off.

Law glowered. "It's the principle of the thing, Luffy-ya. I don't like you using the hormones on me. I appreciate it when I can't sleep, but stop injecting me with different substances," Law insisted. Luffy kicked his sandaled toe into the stone street. "Okay?"

The younger nodded with a frown. Law glared at him and said, "Stop acting cute! You know we hate that!" Luffy lost the pout and laughed.

"That's why I do it!" Luffy went running off, Law chasing after until Luffy changed his weight drastically and floated away after jumping hard off the ground. "Bye bye! Now I'm too far away! Haha!" he floated away, laughing happily. Law huffed and stuck his sword over his shoulder and stomped down the street.

It had been a few years since they had taken over Dressrosa, and Luffy was enjoying his time there. It was made more fulfilling knowing he wouldn't be there forever. He and his brothers (and Law) would be leaving some day to go on their own adventures.

Things had changed a lot since they moved to Dressrosa. Luffy mastered more powers, and Ace and Sabo could utilize all of theirs. They still had room to improve with attacks. And Luffy and Law had gotten closer. He hung out with Law more than his brothers out in town. Law was fun to mess with. But they'd lost Corazon. Luffy missed him sometimes. He had just disappeared a while after they settled in the kingdom.

He left without a note or anything. Luffy didn't know if he was alive or why he left. He floated up to the castle and landed on the balcony. He ran inside to go get something to eat. The castle cooks made him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Yes he could create any food, but it didn't have the perfect flavors professional cooks made into their food.

He ran into Baby 5, who was smoking a cigarette. She did it to look cool, Luffy was sure. She coughed on the smoke when she said hello to Luffy. "That's bad for you, you know?" Baby 5 rolled her eyes.

"You think I don't know that?" Luffy blinked twice.

"Then why do you do it?"

Baby 5 didn't seem to have an answer, so she just took a drag of the cigarette and walked away, coughing on the smoke. Luffy snickered at it behind her back. The cooks made him some chicken curry and he scarfed it down greedily. The temperature didn't hurt him anymore after being able to use the heat-heat powers.

"Thank you!" he called and ran off, leaving the cooks to clean up his bowl and utensils.

It had been many years, and Luffy was happy. His brothers were happy, though Sabo was feeling sick and Ace was taking care of him. That's why they didn't go to watch the fights with him that day and he'd forced Law to come. Like he said, Luffy manipulated them with his puppy dog eyes, which he had fully mastered. It was a real accomplishment he had. And was proud of it. It got some of the executives as well. Luffy was conniving, but still a sweetheart. He still hadn't lost his brightness and kind nature even after doing so many dark and shady things.

Ace and Sabo had changed a bit when it came to interacting with other people, a little colder, but with Luffy, they still treated him the same, which he was so happy for. Law was happier, too. Things were good, and he was happy most days.

Some of the executives had been too busy to be around anymore, now that they had a kingdom to run. Though Luffy enjoyed Dressrosa in general, the family had gotten a bit fragmented over responsibilities. So many of them had changed since arriving, and not just physically, since Machvevise, Senor Pink and Giolla had gained a lot of weight. Luffy and his brothers and Law weren't given much responsibilities. They were excess, and no one challenged their kingdom, so their powers were unneeded.

Luffy wandered around the castle, sucking on a candy finger, when he saw Law heading to Doflamingo's room. "Where ya goin'?" he asked. Law looked at him and replied, "Doflamingo called me for something. I don't know what it is, he sounded a bit tense. I hope I'm not in trouble."

"Why would you be in trouble?" Luffy wondered as both of them walked down the hall towards the king's bedroom.

Law shot him a glare. "Maybe when you convinced me into playing 'tag' with you and we made a mess of the castle." Luffy laughed, putting his hands behind his head and pointed out that Law had free will. Luffy didn't force him into anything. Law bonked him on the head with his sword. "Shut it." Luffy giggled again.

They both arrived at the King's bedroom, and Law knocked on the door, which opened wide to show Doflamingo standing in front of the huge window balcony. "Law, thank you for coming. Luffy. I need to talk with Law, alone," he said when he saw the extra boy. Luffy pouted, but waited outside while Law entered, and the door closed behind him.

Luffy couldn't help it, he bloomed an eye and ear on the far wall of the bedroom to watch in. It couldn't be something really important since it was with Law and not any of the leaders. Plus, Luffy was even more curious about not being allowed in. He watched and listened to the meeting.

"Law. When you first came, I thought you'd make a wonderful right hand man someday. Then you ate the ope-ope12 fruit. You and Luffy ventured out to steal it without permission. I was happy that day. You were alive, not going to die. But I was also a bit angry," the captain/king said, still not looking at Law. The teen looked confused, wondering where this was going. Luffy was, too.

"Am I in trouble?" Law asked in worry, holding the sword tightly.

"Now, now, let me finish. I was angry, since I wanted someone to find the ope-ope fruit and use it for me. Did you know about it's most useful ability? It can grant immortality. I wanted them to grant me that, so I could rule the world, with the family." Law and Luffy were confused.

Law slowly said, "But the user dies if they do that." He and Luffy knew all about the ope-ope fruit, they'd done their research fully, which was why they were both skilled at using it. Doflamingo said nothing, and Luffy watched as sweat dripped down Law's face. He couldn't see Doflamingo. The teen started to worry.

"That's why I wanted someone else to eat it. I've taken you in, raised you with your friends - family. The least you can do is grant me immortality," he said. Law backed away a step, but then froze. Luffy was shocked and horrified. He… he wanted Law to die for him? That wasn't right. Doflamingo was already very powerful! He didn't need to kill Law for his immortality.

Law said, "B-But… I don't understand. You want me to kill myself for you?" Luffy's heart broke for him, the hurt in his voice. And he was also breaking inside as he listened to his captain tell Law he owed it to him to do this.

Luffy's mind raced a mile a minute. Law could die! Luffy liked him too much, he'd miss him. And Law had cheated death, why did he need to still give his life so early? Luffy had that power, too. He also had the revive-revive fruit. So… if he took Law's place, then Law would live and Luffy would live. They'd all win! But Doflamingo had lost all respect or fondness from Luffy. How could he ask for such a thing? The eye and ear disappeared and Luffy threw the door open.

"Luffy. What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear-" Doflamingo said in an irate voice.

"I'll do it," he said. "Don't kill Law, I'll do it." His voice was serious, more serious than he remembered ever making it. His eyebrows were pinched. Law ran over to him and took his shoulders.

"Luffy-ya, you don't have to do that. You've already saved me once-"

Luffy glared at him. "And it would be wasted if you still ended up dying early! I'll be fine, though! I have the revive power, right? So we can all win. I won't let you die," he finished sternly. The younger turned back to his captain - who he'd lost all care for, replaced by hate - and held a steady gaze.

"Well, that makes things easier," the man said in a cruel voice that left chills up Luffy's skin. Law continued to try and get Luffy to change his mind.

The small teen snapped, "You want to die, then?! I won't let you!"

"But-"

"No, buts!" and he trapped Law to the floor around his ankle with mochi. He walked up to the captain and stood in front of him, fearful of the man he'd thought was family. He didn't say anything about Luffy risking everything. What if the revive fruit didn't work and Luffy died for good? He tried not to think of that, and a single tear dripped down his face. "How do I do it?"

"Luffy-ya, no!" But Luffy ignored him.

Doflamingo explained how to do it. "I've recently found information about the previous user, and what he chose in the end." Luffy's heart broke at the coldness of the man's voice. He felt so betrayed. Was he just being used this whole time? Did he ever even care about any of them? Luffy wished they'd left already. The four of them. But if he wanted immortality this much, that he would kill one of his family, then he would have followed after them. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Good boy."

Luffy shook as he put his hand over his new enemy's chest, and thought about forcing his own life out of his body and giving it to the person he was touching. For a while, he was glad nothing was happening, but then his hand started to glow. He swallowed back the urge to vomit. This wasn't a nice feeling, and Law was shouting his name, though he was too scared to move.

Luffy moaned weakly in discomfort before things went dark around him. All he heard was Law scream his name in horror.

Law watched as Luffy crumpled and fell to the floor, eyes open and empty. Everything had been so good just an hour ago! They were both happy. Now… now he looked at Luffy's body, ripping the mochi away, and ran over, taking him into his arms. "Luffy-ya!"

Tears dripped down his face and onto Luffy's cheeks. His eyes were open and unseeing. "How could you do this? What have you been taking us for this whole time?!" Law demanded, tears down his cheeks as he held back sobs.

"Tools, family. Both. But the rule was to follow your captain's orders, was it not?" the man said, grinning evilly, looking at his glowing body. Law glared at him hatefully. He rocked Luffy's limp body back and forth. "You won't tell anyone about this or I'll kill him and you. I do hope he wakes up. I care about you both. You're family." Then he left the room. Left Law to hold the most important person to him.

"Come back, Luffy-ya. Don't leave me alone, don't leave us yet," he sobbed, taking Luffy even closer into his arms. He bit his lip and closed Luffy's eyelids gently. Law felt betrayed and hurt so much by what had just happened. Family didn't ask other family to die for them. What "family"? Bullshit!

He carried Luffy's body to the door, and shut it completely. Ace and Sabo couldn't see their brother like this. Not yet. But how long would it take for Luffy to come back? If he did at all… Law had never felt more hate for anybody than he did at Doflamingo now. He laid him down on the bed, and kissed his forehead, lips trembling with tears.

He waited for over an hour, feeling hopeless. There was no one he cared for more than Luffy. No one had cared more about him than Luffy after he went through such trauma. Luffy helped him from the start. He gave him food that first day, even when Law was being a jerk to him. He cared for him from the start. For no reason, he just did. Law couldn't let him leave. But it was out of his power. He loved Luffy too much.

Luffy finally started to stir while Law thought everything over. He jumped up and got on the bed next to Luffy, staring at him with wide eyes. "Luffy-ya?"

His eyes fluttered, like he was dreaming behind his eyelids. It meant he was alive. Thank god he was alive. Damn it, he'd saved Law again! Why couldn't Law ever save him? His eyes fluttered open, and looked confused. "Law?" he asked in a tired voice.

"How do you feel?" Luffy looked so confused.

"What happened?" he asked. Law didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell anyone of Doflamingo would kill Luffy. Now it was up to him to keep Luffy alive. If the only way he could do that was to keep his lips sealed, then he would. As much as it would hurt, he would not say a thing. Not yet, at least.

Law touched his face. "You had a heart attack. I think you died. I don't know what happened," Law lied through his teeth, pained at having to do so in the first place. "Your fruit revived you." His voice broke at the end.

Luffy blinked a couple of times, brows furrowing more. "Why are you lying to me?" Luffy asked, voice showing hurt, that Law would lie to him. Law licked his lips. He couldn't tell him.

"I can't tell you. I'm sorry, I can't. If I tell you, both of us will die," Law said in a hush, and gathered Luffy in his arms. "I'm sorry I can't tell you. Just trust me, okay?" Luffy nodded.

"I trust you," he said, and hugged Law back. "You're my favorite person, I trust you with my life." Law tensed at that before looking down in disbelief. Luffy still looked under weather, but was smiling.

"...You're my favorite person, too, Luffy-ya…" Luffy beamed, and Law leaned down to kiss his cheek. "Thank you." Luffy's face turned bright red.

He didn't remember what had happened, that he'd sacrificed himself for Law to live. So him kissing the younger's cheek all of the sudden must not make sense. But Law wouldn't take it back. He took his hand in his. "Why did you kiss my cheek?"

Law blushed, looking to the side. "Just cause," was his brilliant reply. Luffy started laughing at him, but Law was just so happy he was alive that he wasn't angry at being laughed at. Law scowled down at him, but it had no heat

"You're silly," Luffy said brightly. "But why are we in Doflamingo's room? Isn't this place off limits?" Law cleared his throat before answering.

"It was the closest place when you had your attack. It was the nearest room," Law lied. He hated covering for Doflamingo's sin, for that horrid thing he'd done. To his family/tools. Were those two things interchangeable? Surely not. Ace and Sabo would never ask Luffy to sacrifice himself for them, just like Law's original family would have never asked such a thing either.

They had to get out of there.

* * *

**So, about Dressrosa. The four of them were raised by pirates, so they do not so moral things. They aren't good pirates, like the Strawhats and what we know of the Whitebeards. They were raised in that environment, so they can do questionable things, and be brats in the future. And they don't bat an eye at killing enemies. Anyways, review!**


	6. Into The Mirror World

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Aw, thank you. <3**

#### Exogot7teenbangtanboys: It was a very dramatic chapter. Law was so cute (but it was also really sad).

**chickie434: I think everyone will be suprirsed with the outcome of Doflamingo. But yeah, he's immortal now. Luffy had to to save Law!**

**rel: <3 <3 <3 Law and Luffy will have lots of fluff later. Look forward to it! I'm glad people were drawn into the story when it got dramatic. I don't usually do drama like that. Mostly fluff, angst or "horror".**

* * *

**Lots of stuff happens in this chapter and we get a nice little cameo that will be important later. Enjoy~**

* * *

"Law's acting weird," Luffy said while Ace cried and Sabo hugged him. They were crying over hearing that Luffy had had a heart attack. They were both devastated, but so happy Luffy was alright. Though it meant that Lu wouldn't have another second chance. The revive fruit was a one time thing. Now he was just normal. He could die just like anyone else. Ace wiped his tears and runny nose.

"Wh-What do you mean?" he asked, trying to gather his wits and be the strong big brother again.

Luffy looked at them and said, "He kissed my cheek. I think something happened before the heart attack thing."

"HE DID WHAT?!" Ace both roared, flaming up. "How dare you touch you like that! How DARE HE?! I'm gonna kill him!" Ace screamed. Luffy jumped on his back, stopping him.

Sabo was angry, too, but knew something else must have happened. Luffy would not have had a heart attack at fifteen. He was perfectly healthy! And the way Luffy described Law's reaction… it was strange. Plus, Law had admitted he was lying to Luffy. That was something odd. But what was so bad he had to lie to his face about his _death?_

"Ace, calm yourself. I have a bad feeling about this. Lu, where is Law now?"

"In his room. He's really upset." Yes, Luffy had been spying on him. He wouldn't deny it. He was so worried about him. and he was worried about the reaction. Ace and Sabo kissed Luffy's forehead when he was little, but Luffy was no longer little and Law was not his brother. He didn't know what to think about it.

Sabo sighed, and Ace had lost his flames, leading Luffy to free him. "I'm gonna go check on him," Luffy stated, but Ace and Sabo followed him. Luffy didn't knock, just opened the door, like he usually did. Law was sitting on the bed, curled up and staring at the wall, a sad expression on.

"What is it?" he asked in the most tired voice Luffy had heard in many years. Sabo closed the door behind them, locking it for good measure. Ace was still irate with the kiss, but he couldn't bring himself to berate Law when he looked so… broken. Had Luffy's death messed him up that much? Or was it how it happened? What he was lying about.

Luffy sat next to him, and Law took his hands immediately. "We want to ask what happened." Law looked away, hiding his eyes under the rim of his ever present hat.

"I can't tell you. If I tell you, both of us will die. I'm not gonna let you die again." Ace and Sabo were shocked. Ace commanded for Luffy to make a mirror, and they dragged Law inside. He was unresponsive, just staring at the floor. "I'm still not gonna tell you."

Ace frowned at him. They were adults now. Ace and Sabo were 18, Law just barely under 18. Luffy was fifteen, they were old enough to not hide things, important things it seemed. But Law clearly wasn't going to say anything. Luffy touched his arm. "I'm sorry I died in front of you. It must have been really sad and scary."

Law swallowed and nodded, looking at Luffy with pinched eyebrows. "It was. I'm sorry I won't tell you, but it's for everyone's own good. I can't risk anything by telling you."

"What if I remember? Will I die, then?" Luffy questioned. He was very serious, this was a serious matter. And he was upset with himself for turning Law into this. He was acting how he used to. Before they got him the op op fruit. Had something like Luffy's death ruined all of the progress? Cause Luffy knew that was progress.

Law sighed. "If you remember, we have to leave."

"We were going to leave either way, Law. The question is whether we should sooner or later," Sabo said. "Don't look like that, we'll be taking you with us. But is what happened so serious, so threatening, that we shouldn't be here anymore? You don't need to give specifics. But are we safe here anymore?"

Law said, "I don't know. If we could, I would leave now."

Ace and Sabo shared a look, and Luffy said, "Then we're leaving now. If something is so unsafe that you would act this way, then we should leave. I thought we were gonna wait a little more, but all three of us are strong with our devil fruits, even if I've lost one of them."

Law's eyes were wide. "How long have you been planning to leave the crew?"

Ace said, "Since the beginning. We know Doflamingo only first took us in so he could use our future abilities."

"We've never fully trusted him in the first place. I don't know if you've noticed, but sometimes his smiles just send chills down our spines," Sabo added. Law nodded, and firmly said that Doflamingo was _not_ family.

That was a huge hint that Luffy's death had something to do with the captain/king. Had he killed Luffy and told Law not to tell anyone? Luffy was looking at the floor of the mirror world sadly. "Lu, we're the only real family. They were never family."

Luffy grabbed Law's hand. Ace amended, "Law is one of our own as well, Luffy. I know they seemed so sincere, but they're pirates. I grew to trust them more, but never fully. They raised us with mostly kindness, so we can remember those times fondly. But I don't think we have any future here anymore."

Law squeezed Luffy's hand tighter. Luffy thought the feeling was nice, he enjoyed holding Ace and Sabo's hands. Law's were bigger though. He thought of the kiss on his cheek again. It had been so tender. Law was never tender, throwing Luffy around like a ragdoll or swearing at him. Though they were close friends, they never were physically close like this. Luffy had never had any reason to be. Neither did Law, until whatever had happened.

"We should leave as soon as possible," Law said quietly.

Ace and Sabo grinned. "Well, we already have everything planned. We set everything up years ago. We're ready to leave at a moment's notice. Of course, it would lead to the fall of Dressrosa, so we might change the plan a bit."

Law grinned at that. "We will destroy his work. His life. He deserves it."

Luffy smiled. "Sounds fun!" Sabo ruffled his hair and told him he was the one who would be able to pull everything off.

The brothers filled Law in on the plan, and he seemed to love the idea. Ace had planned this out years ago, after Luffy agreed that they weren't staying there for forever. Things were set up already, the pieces where they needed to be.

"The first thing we have to do is take out Sugar," Ace said, and they all sat on the couches in the mirror world they'd set up. The plan was made out, and Luffy was excited to start out on a new adventure with his favorite people. His beloved brothers and Law. He was so happy Law was going with them.

They would pull it off that night. It was getting late already. They entered their bedrooms and packed their things, tossing them into the mirror world easily. They wouldn't be saying goodbye to anyone, or leaving any notes.

They were raised by pirates. They had no obligation to say goodbye to anyone they didn't see as a true family. Plus, the kids who were all adults now had all grown apart in age. Corazon was gone, so Luffy didn't need to say goodbye to him, though he'd never said goodbye in the first place. He left first.

Ace, Sabo and a clone Luffy were at dinner, eating with the rest of the family while Luffy targeted Sugar in her room through the mirror. He had been practicing, and he was sure he could do it just fine. He was invisible as he left the mirror, hiding his presence easily, before releasing a short burst of conqueror's haki. Sugar passed out immediately, and Luffy dragged her into the mirror.

They'd never liked Sugar. Her power was too disturbing to ever trust her not to use it on them, since she'd get away with it easily if no one could remember you. He dragged her down the mirror world halls, hands binded and eyes covered in mochi, and tossed her onto a ship in the middle of the West Blue.

"Bye, bye, Sugar!" Luffy shouted and broke that mirror. He ran back to the house, and had his clone go to the bathroom, where Luffy switched with it, the clone popping away.

"Im back!" Luffy said, walking to the dining room table, where many had stood up and ran off. "What's going on?" he asked in worry, Ace and Sabo following suit where Law kept a straight face. He wouldn't meet Doflamingo's gaze.

A soldier for their family arrived with a huge tray with tons of ringing den den mushis, all reporting toys that were turning back into humans or animals. The brothers were satisfied to see the angry, worried look on his face. Veins showed in his forehead. Law may not have looked happy, but Luffy recognized the twinge of satisfaction in his eyes. Luffy was really good at reading him by now.

The executives headed out, hurrying to try and get things together. Sugar was gone and wouldn't be found anytime soon. Luffy should have taken her memories, but she was out of reach since he'd destroyed the mirror where he could reach her. Oh well, nothing he could do about that.

Law retired to his room while the brothers went to their own locking the doors and entering the mirror world. Luffy went to Law's mirror and took him inside. Luffy was a bit sad they'd be leaving the kingdom, but they were going to have a real adventure! They have two more places to visit.

Law was smiling the whole time, looking so satisfied. Luffy liked this look much more than his other. They headed to the treasure room that Luffy had planted a mirror in, and took a massive share of treasure and money into the mirror world, into five big bins hardened mochi. It was a third of the treasure they took.

Then they weren't to a place that Ace and Sabo had been stashing necessaries for sailing. Multiple log poses for both Paradise and the New World, mapping tools, tons of detailed maps, logbooks. They'd been stealing them slowly, hiding them under the flower hill, which was the calmest place on the island, and they weren't seen before getting their spoils into the mirror world.

Everything would be exponentially harder if they didn't have this power. Ace set the area below the flower hill on fire, which would reach the rest of the island. Sure, it would hurt people, but this was important to them, and none of them had had empathy nurtured in their childhood.

The four went to the mirrors in the castle and watched people run about in a panic, all four of them smiling. But standing far back enough that no one could see them watching. They then flopped down on the couch as Luffy watched the chaos with his glare-glare fruit. "You've been planning that all along?" Law asked, sitting on the lounge chair. They had two long, fluffy couches, a recliner and a coffee table.

Ace nodded, and Luffy was taking up a whole couch, laying on his back with his eyes closed. People were screaming around the island, and Doflamingo had taken advantage of the situation and was now controlling people to get rid of the citizens. He hadn't realized yet that they'd betrayed him. "Are you going to tell us what really happened now?" Ace questioned. Luffy opened his eyes, back in the mirror world.

Law's face crumpled, but he agreed to tell them. "There is a power of the ope-ope fruit to grant eternal youth to someone else at the expense of their life. Doflamingo tried to get me to do it for him, even though I would die. He said I owed it to him. I didn't know what to do, and then Luffy barged in. He was eavesdropping.

"He offered to exchange places with me. I couldn't stop him, and he did. He died right in front of me. His eyes were blank and empty. Doflamingo just left him there. He said we were tools from the start. Then he threatened to kill us both if I told anyone."

Ace and Sabo were speechless while tears trailed down Luffy's cheeks, feeling so hurt and worthless, betrayed and disliked. He felt tricked, for all those years. They were no family. The only family he had was Ace and Sabo, and now Law. Tears were in Law's eyes as well, but they didn't fall. "I'm tired of you always saving me, Luffy-ya," he sighed.

"What are friends for?" Luffy asked, offended by the comment. Law frowned at those words, and Luffy didn't like that. "Would you rather have died? I lived and so did you! That's what matters most, right?" Law looked at his hands.

"I guess. I still don't like it," he said in a grumpy voice. "I am very grateful, I wish it hadn't happened, though."

Sabo sighed and leaned back into the couch, looking up at the tall ceiling, mirrors shining down at them. "We all wish it hadn't happened, but at least we got to leave. Now, why don't we go find someplace to start over at. Do we really want to start out in the New World on our own? I'd honestly prefer starting at the beginning. Or at least in the middle of the beginning."

Luffy beamed and sat up. "We're gonna get a ship, right?!" he asked excitedly. Ace beamed and said of course. Law smiled, too, but it was small and a bit hesitant. Luffy saw it. "Don't worry, you'll be happy, too! Dome!" he said, and put his hand down, but nothing happened. The others looked at him in surprise. "Dome!" he said again, but his power didn't activate.

Sabo figured it out first. "You must have lost that power after using it for that asshole." Luffy pouted. That power had been so fun! Now Law was the only one that could do it. He crossed his arms angrily. Though at least he still had his other powers. He would have been lost without them, not remembering not having it.

The four of them sat on the carpet under the couches and looked at maps. "We could buy a ship at Water 7. We should gather a crew after that. Maybe just make our way from there to the next island and start over. We're already experienced in the New World, we should be fine."

Luffy cheered, excited for more friends. A crew of their own, making their own decisions. "So who's captain?" the youngest questioned. Ace and Sabo glared at each other. They'd always fought about that but hadn't had one of them ever win over the other. Law said nothing, which the two were grateful for. They wouldn't follow under Law, though he'd be able to make some decisions, too. He and Luffy were close and had been under someone else for a long time. Ace and Sabo knew what that felt like. Not being able to share wishes or thoughts on decisions.

"You could be co-captains," Luffy offered. "I don't think either of you will back down." Ace and Sabo nodded. That was the only option. "And me and Law can be co-first mates!"

Sabo smiled. "That's a good idea. Law will be my first mate and Luffy Ace's. I want the smart one." Luffy didn't register the jab, and just laughed. "We'll be important, Law!" The dark skinned man nodded with a smile. "So, it will take a long time to get to where one of those mirrors is. They are based on where in the world they are. We're in the New World's area. The mirror world has a huge distance from here to Water 7. We'll have to take breaks," Luffy explained.

Ace put his hand on his chin. He'd be able to get there quickly with the light power, but he couldn't bring his brothers and Law there with him. Sabo offered a plan. "Ace can make an ice carriage and I can pull it. It will still take a while, but it would be easier than walking."

Law and Luffy nodded. It was a good idea. "And I can make us soft mochi beds!" So, they had a solid plan. Ace said that they should sleep before leaving, since it was late anyways. The others agreed, and they all settled onto the couches. Luffy took one of the couches, laying down with his feet just barely touching Law's leg as he sat up. Ace took the recliner and Sabo took the other sofa.

They woke up when they did, not when the sunshine poured into their bedrooms. Law got up first, and woke the others after looking in a mirror and seeing sunlight in the bedroom. "Luffy-ya wake up. Ace, Sabo, wake up. It's morning," he said, shaking them awake gently. He didn't know not to do that, so Sabo kicked out at him. "The hell?" he asked in irritation.

Luffy started laughing behind him. "You gotta be more forceful!" and he walked to Ace and punched him in the face before dragging him off the chair by his hair. Of course such things didn't hurt any of them, and it was a good way to wake the heavy sleepers. Law watched with bafflement. That wasn't how they used to wake each other up. He had shared a room with them for years and it was never like this. Luffy laughed at his face, and Ace went to force Sabo awake as well.

"You will never wake me up like that," Law commanded. Luffy made spikes on his fingers. "Or that! If you ever turn me into a woman again, I will kill you."

"Nah, you love me too much to kill me," Luffy said nonchalantly, and didn't notice the completely red face he'd made. He wandered to the huge pile of treasure and started stuffing all of it to a pocket he formed on his leg from one of the devil fruits he rarely used. It didn't grow heavy or anything like that.

The brothers sadly said goodbye to the couches, their little hideout. But they were going on an adventure to be free. Ace formed the ice carriage, and they moved the carpet to the bottom so they didn't get too cold. Sabo turned into his ox form, and started walking at a quick pace. They passed many mirrors, and the brothers talked about their future while Law was content to just listen. His sword was propped up next to him.

He had taken his jacket Luffy made for him on. None of them had brought any clothes after they left. The ride was nice, and the carrier wasn't very bumpy. They only had a few things to turn into food, so they were saving any for breakfast. Luffy planned on sneaking into mirrors to steal trash to take back and turn into food. He could do it just fine, they knew.

For breakfast, they ate the scrambled eggs Ace cooked and then they carried on after a longer break for Sabo. He was fine with endurance, but it was going to take them a while to get to the mirror Luffy knew was blinking from his glare-glare fruit.

Lunch depleted most of what they had. They'd miscalculated, forgetting how much each of them needed to eat to be full. And none of them would choose the option to starve themselves. So, Luffy went searching for any large ship that would have an abundance of trash. His eyes landed on a rather massive ship, though he couldn't see the flag.

He went inside it, searching for the goal, and found a room with bins of trash. Mostly non-food items. Which were easier to transform. He grinned, and told them that he found a big ship that had a huge room of trash. "I'll stuff all of it into my pocket. I'll be invisible and soundless so don't worry," he assured his brothers and best friend. All of them were worried, but had faith in him. Even if he got into a messy situation, he could form mirrors anywhere he wished. Right in front of him, behind him, above or below him.

Honestly, that could be the most useful power besides the glare-glare fruit. So, Luffy made himself soundless and invisible and crawled through the bathroom mirror. No one was outside of the room, so he slowly opened it. He knew which way to go from looking not long ago. He passed some pirates in the hallway, but none of them noticed him.

He came across a pirate that he was worried about, and had not seen, but he immediately went down the other hall until Phoenix Marco passed him. He waited before going on his mission once again.

When he found the trash room, he entered it quietly, not making a sound, and closed it behind him. He realized that it would take too long to stuff it all in his pocket, so he opened a mirror that would be on the ceiling above Ace, Sabo and Law and dumped the bins of trash through it one by one.

Then someone opened the door and walked in. "What the hell?" he asked, and Luffy ditched the bins, and sunk into the mirror world, but it was too late when the guy grabbed his foot, and fell down into the mirror world with him. He scrambled away. "Aah! He followed me in!" Luffy screeched.

"Luffy-ya, calm down!" Law shouted, and he did. They all stared at the first mate of the Whitebeard pirates. "Why did you go on Whitebeard's ship?!" Law demanded. Luffy shot back that he hadn't known.

Sabo put his hands up and said, "Look, we just needed some trash, we didn't do anything to your ship." Marco didn't look angry, thankfully. But they still wanted him out. Law said Sabo's name and flicked his eyes to the mirror on the ceiling. Sabo turned into the phoenix, which was the fastest of his birds, and flew above Marco, who was shocked.

"Room! Shambles!" he called, and Marco was swapped with Sabo, where Luffy used his spring-spring fruit and shot up to shove Marco back through the mirror and away from them. He looked down at them in shock, but once Luffy got back down, they were no longer visible and the mirror was back to normal.

Luffy looked ashamed. "I'm sorry. He grabbed me before I could get inside." Ace put his hand on Luffy's head.

"You didn't do it on purpose. But next time, make sure you know which ship you're on. If you went on another yonko ship, it could be much worse." Luffy nodded, glad he was forgiven. He stuffed all of the non-perishable trash into a second pocket on his leg. Most of it was paper products, cans or bottles. It really looked like they drank quite a bit.

Sabo hooked himself back up to the ice trailer, and the other three settled back down in it. Luffy looked sad, and was sad. Thinking about how his life had been a lie. Those people weren't there for the brothers and Law for anything but to use them to advance their own plans. How could he not have known that? Ace and Sabo knew.

"What's wrong?" Law asked Luffy. He pulled his knees up to his chest.

"I thought they liked us like family. But they just used us for our powers. Didn't care if Law was gonna die," he said, and sniffled. Law put his arm around Luffy's small shoulders.

"Well, we can't do anything or go back in the past. Nothing will change, and we're free now. Doflamingo can't age now, but it doesn't mean he can't die. If all three of us work together, if he does decide to come after us, then I'm sure we can defend ourselves. His string powers wouldn't work on Ace. Sabo could form into blue fire to get out of them. You and I wouldn't have such luck, but your brothers would save us."

Ace nodded, and Sabo said, "Of course we would. We're all in this together now. Don't forget it, Lu. We were never planning to stay for good, and he would have never let us go feely. Maybe this way was better. Who knows?"

Luffy nodded and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "You're right."

"Of course we are," Ace said in a joking voice.


	7. Water 7

**rel: The story is ASL and Law centric, so it's all from their POV. But the Whitebeards do appear and I think it's quite entertaining as to what happens with them. Look forward to it! And no spoilers for the other parts! You'll just have to wait.**

**chickie434: Thanks! Lots of stuff happens in this fic, a lot of it I think it surprising. I hope it lives up to everyones' expectations.**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: It only gets cuter and fluffier!**

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**Lots of stuff happens in this chapter, and I'd like to remind you to remember the boys' pasts and why they do some of the things they do. Enjoy~**

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Sleeping on mochi beds was not a bad experience. They were soft and smelled good. They moved like water beds beneath them, making them all sink into them in a comforting way. It did not surprise anyone that Luffy had eaten a huge chunk of his mochi bed while he slept, which was just funny and had Law chuckle as well.

Walking to their destination took four days at a reasonable pace. Luffy didn't need to steal anymore trash since he'd gotten so much from the Whitebeards. He was glad he wasn't killed for trespassing, but Marco was just too shocked to do anything, which was super lucky. And the threes' strategy made up on the spot was a good one. They all worked well together.

When they finally came to the Water 7 mirror they'd been aiming for, since it was the closest, they saw into it and found it was a bathroom into a hotel of some sort. They left the carriage there and brought their backpack with them. The only backpack was one with keepsakes, like photos of them in their childhood. Or Luffy's baby blanket that he still had when it was given to him long ago. It was an important treasure to him, so they made sure to bring it.

The hotel was very nice inside, but they were in one of the rooms they hadn't paid for, so they left immediately. They ran into no one on their way out, and found they were in a ship building area. "Luffy, don't run off, okay?" Sabo asked, and Luffy promised he wouldn't. They knew he'd keep that promise and not wander off how much he wanted to.

They approached the nearest worker, a blonde man with a cigar in his mouth. He looked a bit grumpy. "Excuse me, sir. Where can we buy a ship here? We're looking into buying one as soon as possible."

He looked them up and down, probably wondering about their age. "You cabin boys or something?" he asked.

Sabo shook his head, putting his hand up to stop the others' anger. "We're a crew. Just starting out, and we need a ship. We have the money to pay, so that won't be a problem. My name is Sabo, these are my brothers, Ace and Luffy, and our close friend, Law."

"My name is Paulie. You can talk to Iceberg. How much money do you have at the moment?" he asked.

"1.6 billion," Sabo replied. Paulie's jaw dropped, and Ace snickered. It really wasn't much compared to just how much treasure their previous crew had. They had many more billions. He practically demanded where they got so much money. "Our previous crew was quite wealthy. They gave us money once we set off," Sabo lied.

Law was holding onto Luffy's shoulder as he looked around at everything in awe. He promised he wouldn't stray away, but he was so scatterbrained and easily distracted that he might not be able to help himself from exploring.

Paulie reigned in his shock, and directed them to talk to the leader, Iceberg. He was also the mayor. Sabo thanked him, and the four walked in the direction they were pointed to. It was a large building, and they entered and waited in the waiting room. A woman eventually came in with blonde hair and glasses. "Can we help you?" she asked in a clipped voice.

"Paulie sent us here to speak to Iceberg. We want to buy a ship," Sabo said politely.

"Right, follow me. My name is Kalifa, the secretary of the mayor. You must respect him or you will regret it." None of them were afraid of being hurt, so they weren't offended or worried by their words. Even if Law had a normal body, he was physically strong. He'd had to get strong to fend off Luffy's surprise attacks. He held his sword over his shoulder.

They were led to an office where a man was sitting at his desk. They sat down in the chairs, which were only three, so a wooden chair was brought in. Law took that one, sitting next to Luffy while Ace and Sabo were closer to the wall.

"Paulie sent us here. We want to buy a ship," Sabo said, getting straight to the point. Luffy excitedly commented about the mouse on his shoulder. "Not now, Lu." Luffy giggled and apologized.

Iceberg didn't ask why they were so young and buying a ship, but did ask if they had the money. "Yes, we have more than enough. How expensive are ships?" Sabo asked. He would be the one doing all the talking, as he was the most polite.

It was strange. Right after they left the old crew, they didn't wish to hurt or kill anyone for pure fun. They wanted to go on adventures. Sure, they would still fight people and enjoy it, but no longer did they double as hitmen. It was nice.

"It depends on the size of your ship. Do you have any examples?" The teens shared a look, and Sabo said, "The size of Doflamingo's ship. Do you know that ship?" Sabo asked.

Iceberg nodded, but then a look dawned on him as he looked at the four. Mostly the brothers. They knew they had been recognized. "Yes, we used to be on his ship. We've defected, and are now going on our own adventures. Now, how much does a ship of that size cost?"

"Around 260,000,000 berries. It's quite a lot for four teenagers." Luffy grinned, and said they had more than enough. Sabo offered to pay it upfront, and Iceberg asked where the money was, since they didn't have anything with them besides a small backpack and Law's sword. They didn't need anything else. Soon they would have a new home! It would be so fun. Sabo said they had it someplace safe, but didn't say it was on Luffy.

Iceberg didn't ask how much they had, and handed them a packet of examples. "You can choose a basic model and then make changes to it. Without the changes, it would cost the original price. The more expensive things you add on, the price will go up. Not too much, but it will go up. Take your time deciding. We won't be going anywhere."

"Thank you, sir. Where is your nearest bathroom? We best be leaving to go decide," Sabo asked. Iceberg asked why they needed to go into the bathroom to leave.

Luffy grinned. "It's a secret, mouse-man. Can I hold it next time we come?" Iceberg nodded, clearly confused by Luffy's behavior. He obviously didn't act like a pirate. Well, at least any pirate they'd come across. They left the room, but knew they were being followed before climbing onto the counter and slipping into the mirror world.

Iceberg was watching with his mouth open from the crack in the door. Luffy put a finger in front of his lips with a grin and sunk back into the mirror.

He formed mochi couches, only soft on where cushions could go. Law had the packet with the others sitting next to him or behind him to see. Some of the ships were too boring, and they wanted a nice sized one. One big enough to fit at most a dozen other people, not too much. A small crew would be better, they'd be closer to one another. And they all vowed to not be like Doflamingo's crew. They would truly grow close to their crew members.

They liked one that had three stories and seventeen bedrooms, though they were smaller. They respected any future crewmembers and would give them privacy. They were too old to share rooms, in the fours' opinions. Well, now that they were free.

"What kind of figure head should we have?" Ace wondered once they picked out the ship model. Now they were deciding what personal details they wanted.

"Definitely not a flamingo," Law commented, and the others chuckled.

"We could have a dragon. But not a cheap one, a super fancy one!" Luffy offered. Ace pointed out that they'd seen dozens of dragon figureheads over the years of sailing. The youngest pouted, but knew they were right. "What about a big cat? Like a tiger or leopard like Sabo has. He can be the model, too!"

Ace said that that was a good idea. Then he offered a male lion. The other three said a tiger would look better. "How good would these people be able to carve a threatening lion's mane? I'd favor a leopard or tiger."

"Are we decided, then?" Law questioned. The others nodded. "I think we should have a very good kitchen. Not an old one with basic appliances. And very comfortable furniture, big beds, etc."

"I guess we are. But we need a pirate flag. We never even thought about that! We can't be pirates without a flag," Ace said. The rest were shocked that they hadn't had that idea before.

Luffy thought for a moment, trying to think of the best flag ever. Maybe they could use their devil fruits. That would be cool. Something for all four of them. Something with all of their powers that would look really awesome, and original as well. "We could make something using all of our devil fruits. Like Law's room around it, and Ace's fire around the edges, with a blue bird's head in the middle and white cracks coming from the head. So it would be like my candy and the quake-quake fruit so it would look strong!"

The others grinned, thinking that would be an amazing flag. "That is a fucking amazing idea, Lu!" Ace exclaimed. "We'll have to design it before it is painted onto the sails. Man, I can't wait to see our pirate flag. It sure will be original and identifiable. But what will our crew's name be? Before Law, we always thought of 'ASL'."

"No, that's boring!" Luffy protested, and Law smiled in amusement.

"We could make it something about being free. We're free now, aren't we?" Law offered.

Sabo put a hand on his chin, trying to come up with a good name. They all thought it was a good idea. "We could do 'Freedom Seekers'. That sounds catchy. And it would kind of be a spat in the face of Doflamingo."

"Yeah! Wow, we have our name and flag all done in a couple minutes! We should go get our ship built now. I can't wait for it. We'll make it cozy with the furniture. We can pay for whatever we want. We have sooo much money." Sabo ruffled his hair, and the three left through the bathroom mirror again before heading back to Iceberg's office. Kalifa was in there, and Sabo knocked on the doorframe.

"We picked what we wanted and want to add," Ace said, speaking to him for the first time. Law still had his sword in his hand pressed against his shoulder. Luffy was bouncing on his flip flops. Iceberg commented that that was pretty fast. "Well, we want the ship as soon as possible. The mirror world isn't exactly cozy," he said nonchalantly. After all, he'd already seen them enter the mirror and disappear.

"Well, go ahead and show me. And you can hold my mouse as long as you're gentle," Iceberg said as the teens all sat in their original seats, and the older three described what they wanted. Luffy played with the mouse, who started to nibble on his hand, probably smelling the mochi skin. His skin was both mochi and rubber. Well, rubber, with a mochi scent and undertone. So he could turn his body into mochi easily, but it was rubber by default. That's why bullets bounced off of him. Knife strikes didn't hurt him when he was in mochi form.

After blueprints of the ship's interior and exterior were made, Luffy pulled out the money from his leg pocket, sticking it on the desk in messy piles. The ship ended up costing 300,000,000 berries, but still left them with over a billion. They would furnish the ship after it was finished being built.

"It will take a week to build. I assume you won't use a hotel instead of your mirror world?" the teens look at one another.

"Can we rent beds from the hotel and just pay for those? We can get them in and out of the mirror world fine," Ace questioned. Iceberg nodded, and offered them to use their hotel since they wouldn't be staying in the rooms and making any mess. "Thank you very much. We really appreciate it."

Iceberg smiled, probably pleased with the manners at their ages. Luffy looked younger than 15, and Law looked older than almost 18. Probably because of the facial hair he had and his dark eyes. Luffy gave the man his pet mouse back, and the four decided to look around town.

Most people on the street didn't recognize them, and they enjoyed going shopping for local food and some clothes. All they had were clothes that Luffy created for them. Luffy tried on all sorts of clothes, and freaked his brothers out by dressing in a fancy dress and in female form. "Do I look good?"

Law sighed. "Why do you make the breasts so big? Don't you not like how heavy they are?" Luffy laughed, and said it was only for a few minutes so it wasn't too bad. The manager and other customers were shocked and Luffy stabbed himself and turned back to normal. Now the dress was too tight, so he went to take it off.

They all left with some clothes that Luffy shoved into a pocket. The trash was no longer carried in his pocket, but was waiting for them in the mirror world. Since they were still in Water 7, where they'd exited a mirror, all of the mirrors in the city are fairly close, in the same vicinity, so they didn't get lost and lose all of their stuff by using other mirrors.

Luffy's powers were the only ones of the three that could be used practically any time of the day. Ace and Sabo were good for fighting or Sabo using his animal senses to find something. Law's power was also more practical as well. Though it drained him a bit.

The four walked around town, Law carrying Luffy piggyback because he insisted with the damn puppy dog face which weakened them more than seastone. It was Sabo that first noticed they were being followed. Luffy closed his eyes and watched as a large group was coming from in front and behind. He assumed they were bounty hunters since all brothers had bounties over 300,000,000 berries. Law had one of 116,000,000 due to his raiding of a marine base and chopping people up into living pieces.

"Some coming from behind and up front. Where should we go to not damage the city?" Luffy questioned.

"We have enough control to not damage anything. But they might, and we could be blamed and lose our future ship. Maybe we could go to a more deserted area?" Ace offered. "I saw a rocky area when we were at the top floor of the city."

They agreed that that was the best idea. "They won't be able to rob us. No one can use my pockets but me, and they're hidden. I doubt anyone would get the chance to pants me anyway."

Law glowered. "I sure hope not." Sabo gave him a weird look briefly, but no one else noticed before he looked away, a thoughtful expression on. He had been noticing the subtle reactions Law made when it was for his safety. Sometimes he blushed when Luffy said something, though Luffy did often embarrass him on purpose. Maybe he was thinking about it too much.

Once they reached the rocky outcrop, they turned around and Luffy jumped off of Law's strong back. The large group of men approached, and Luffy grinned, knowing what he'd do to all of them. He pat Law to have his bend down a bit since Luffy was much shorter than him. He told Law his plan, and it included his power.

"You're one evil boy, you know that?" Law asked, though there was an amused smile on his face. "But I'll take part in that plan." Ace and Sabo were discussing their own plans. "Ace, Sabo, we get the left half, you get the right." He was still grinning at Luffy's plan.

"You brats! Surrender yourself and we won't hurt you!" one of the men said. They all wore strange outfits, with weird, cheap looking "goggles" on. That was the only way to describe them.

Law asked in a smug voice, "Why? So you can turn us all in?" It made the bounty hunters bristle. "Do you really want to challenge us? You know what we can do, don't you?" The enemies scowled, though some of them looked worried. "This is your last chance to run away, tails between your legs."

This made them angry, and they started shooting at them. Ace and Sabo were completely fine, the bullets bounced off of Luffy and a barrier was made in front of Law, who formed a huge room, encompassing half of the enemies, and unsheathed his sword before flicking it and cutting up the dozens of bounty hunters, who all fell to the ground, screaming. Luffy took down the barrier and walked up to all the living, severed men, and enjoyed injecting them each, causing them all to become women.

Many of them hadn't worn shirts, so new breasts were showing. "Now you're pretty. You weren't before."

"How dare you?! Turn us back, fix us! Now!" one shouted. Luffy just giggled and ran back to Law. Ace and Sabo were having fun battling, wiping the men on the floor until they couldn't move. They didn't kill any of them, but they had severe burns or deep bite marks from Sabo's predator zoans.

Sabo wiped the blood from his mouth, and said, "Hey, we were nice and gave you a chance. There's no way you could take us out. Have fun, boys. We have places to be, things to do." Ace chuckled, and the four walked through the mass of bodies, stepping on some of them for good measure.

"Big bro Franky is going to kill you for this!" one of them shouted, tears pouring down their faces.

"We look forward to it, weaklings," Law threw over his shoulder. Luffy jumped on his back, and exclaimed that that was awesome. Ace called them evil, but he was amused as well. "It was self defense, right Luffy-ya?" Law asked. Luffy nodded. He rested his chin on Luffy's shoulder and neck.

Sabo caught another blush from the older teen. A picture was starting to form in his head. He actually wouldn't be surprised if he was right, after everything that had happened over the years. But he'd tell no one. It wasn't his business, and Law was a good guy. Well, a good guy to his friends. He could be an ass to any outsiders.

And Luffy was clueless, as usual.

It didn't take long for word to spread about their "fight". Ace had gone up to someone and asked who they were. Nobody liked them, it seemed, so they weren't too upset about their overwhelming defeat. They were called the "Franky Family", thugs who called themselves bounty hunters.

More than once they were warned about Franky, the leader. They weren't concerned. They headed back to the hotel, but were interrupted by a gravelly voice from behind. Luffy was still on Law's back, and turned his head all the way around with his rubber powers and saw the silhouette of a weirdly shaped man.

Their first names were the only thing known about them, so on their bounty posters, they were just Luffy, Sabo, Ace and Law. That was it, they had no cool nickname, which Luffy pouted about. Law and the brothers turned around. Luffy dropped off of the taller teen's back.

"Yow! What did you do to my precious little bros?" he asked in a light voice, but it conveyed great anger.

"Chopped them up."

"Turned them into women."

"Burned them."

"Bit them."

They each said honestly and in a flat voice. Franky screamed that he already knew that. "Then why'd you ask?" Ace called back. Franky fumed at their nonchalant attitudes. Everyone had already ran away just by seeing the man show up.

They really pissed him off, because he said nothing else before jumping down to the ground and slowly walking to them, trying to attack them. He punched, but his hand disconnected from his arm, and came hurtling at them. Luffy couldn't help but be reminded of the fight with Bellamy so long ago, and brought up his barrier, stopping it completely. They all looked at him with an unimpressed look.

When Luffy took down the barrier, he said, "Weapons left!" and _opened his hand_ to shoot bullets at them. Law bounced them all off with his sword. They bounced off of Luffy and went right through Ace and Sabo.

"Unless you have haki or seastone, you can't hurt us," Ace said simply. Franky seemed confused about what haki was, and the teens remembered that Paradise pirates didn't know anything about haki. They all had haki, so they could have dodged each bullet if they wanted, but there was no real point.

Luffy covered his arm in haki, and gave a look to Law. He pulled it backwards with his rubber power, and Law said, "Room! Shambles!" and Franky switched places with a falling piece of candy Luffy had made, and he was suddenly there, Luffy punching him in the stomach so hard they heard the sound of metal bending. He was thrown back thirty feet, hitting the ground hard.

He groaned, holding his bent in stomach. He was somehow made of metal. But haki could overcome any type of metal except metal that was also coated in armament haki.

Sabo commented on how good he and Law were at fighting together. Luffy beamed and Law flushed lightly before also smiling. Sabo couldn't help but give Law a knowing smile, who looked a bit confused by the look. So, he didn't know yet. Didn't know he was totally acting like he had a crush on Luffy.

"Why don't we go back to the hotel and rent the beds?" Ace offered, and the other three turned around to head away, Franky still on the ground, gasping for air. Luffy's punch really got him. And the boy almost pitied him. But he'd tried to hurt his precious family, and his overprotectiveness made itself visible.

He was more protective of Law than Ace and Sabo. Even though Law was strong now and definitely could take care of himself, it was ingrained in him to help save Law. for years that was his mission, and it had stuck with him ever since. At least Law never really complained about it. He probably argued with him sacrificing himself that day, but Luffy didn't remember still. Maybe that had been a good thing.

But Franky wasn't out of the fight, and unsteadily followed after them, staggering and gasping, bent over. "I'm - not done with - you -yet," he growled out.

Ace said, "You look pretty done." But without a word, the strangely-shaped man blew fire at them. Luffy put up a barrier and shot it at Franky, throwing him into the water a great distance away. "That was boring. Paradise people are weak. They don't even know haki. It'll be a breeze getting back to the New World," Ace complained.

Sabo nodded, but Luffy wasn't particularly bothered. Being in nicer weather for a while might be nice. Plus, they were just starting out as their own crew, so some practice before the hard stuff would be nice. When they got back to the hotel, Iceberg was waiting for them, the mouse on his shoulder. Kalifa was there, too.

"We heard about what happened with the Franky Family and Franky himself," Iceberg said in a neutral tone.

Ace said, "They started it. We warned them that we wouldn't go easy but they didn't back down. Besides, we didn't hurt any citizens, even when Franky went after us." And it was the truth. They could have stayed in town to "fight" but it would have made a mess and possibly hurt innocent people. They weren't Donquixote pirates anymore, they didn't need to kill or ruin the lives of innocent people anymore.

Iceberg nodded. "Still, I'd like to ask you to fix them back." Sabo asked why. They were thugs weren't they? "They are important to the island as ship dismantlers, meaning they get rid of the broken or dying ships that we can't do anything with."

Ace huffed and crossed his arms. "They attacked us, what makes you think they won't again? What if they hurt citizens?" he asked, attitude coloring his voice. Kalifa went to kick him for being rude, but her leg went right through Ace's head. She scowled at it.

Iceberg nodded, and said that he understood. "If you fix them back up, I will allow you to buy furniture for one third of the price. You have no affiliation with this city, so you won't feel the need to help, but they are important for Water 7 to function."

The four didn't need a discount, they still had over a billion berries left, and furnishing the ship would only cost a couple tens of thousands with the quality they wanted. They didn't need a discount one bit. None of them wanted to fix the Franky family or the leader himself. But Luffy caved, seeing the earnest look Iceberg was giving. He felt like doing something kind.

"Law can put them back together, but they will stay women. That's their punishment for messing with us. Plus, women can be super strong, too. Men don't dominate the New World as much as Paradise," Luffy said.

Iceberg and Kalifa both looked shocked. "You're New World pirates?" she asked, voice sounding a bit upset. It was strange since their wanted posters had been out before. Maybe she just hadn't noticed?

"Yeah. I mean, we were on Doflamingo's ship and he's in the New World," Ace said, trying not to have any attitude, even if the secretary couldn't harm him. No one in Paradise knew haki. They could see that, and also the crew had often lamented about how weak those in Paradise were and how they didn't even need haki since no one there knew about it.

Luffy asked when they had to fix the Franky Family. He didn't want to fix Franky, and would not. "I'm not fixing Franky's injury."

Iceberg nodded. "He will be able to fix himself, he turned himself into a cyborg. Please do it soon, we have a few ships that need to be dismantled." The teens sighed but nodded, and headed out to the rocky crop, where the severed thugs were still laying. Law was the only one who could put them back together. He wasn't happy about having to undo it.

"You're too kind, Luffy-ya," Law said, tapping his sword on his shoulder.

"You don't like that?" Luffy asked curiously.

Law looked away. "I didn't say that." Luffy smiled, glad Law didn't dislike Luffy's personality. Sabo chuckled quietly. Nobody noticed it.

When they arrived out at the rocky crop, they looked at the defeated men. Many had bandages over their bite wounds or severe burns. The men and recently-turned women screamed when they saw the teens back, probably thinking they were back for more. Franky was there, laying on his back, clearly in pain from his dented in stomach.

Luffy didn't care about him since he tried to hurt his family and Law. "Calm down, we're not going to do anything worse to you. Iceberg told us to put you back together so you could do your job," Law said in a bored voice. "Room, shambles." The women were floated around and put back together. Most had shirts on now.

"Change us back now!" one of the women said.

"You don't need to be men to do your job, right? We healed you, but your punishment for attempting to attack us for you to stay that way," Luffy said in a simple voice. They started crying, lamenting being weak, having boobs, not being strong men anymore. Even though they hadn't been strong in the first place. "Women aren't all weak, you know." They still were crying and begging Luffy to fix them.

"Luffy-ya is not going to fix you. No matter how much you cry. We aren't exactly good people, you know? You've probably never heard of it, but we helped take over an entire kingdom, turn those who went against us into living toys, and forced them to work for our crew as slaves. Turning you into women is nothing compared to that," Law said in a hard voice. It was a good way to intimidate them. "We're from a world so out of your league. You never had a chance. And neither did your big bro Franky."

He said all of this in a very cold voice, one that Luffy had never heard directed to any of them, and he was glad for that. He liked when Law's voice was nice and warm to him. And when he called Luffy by his nickname. He felt special when he said that.

The four New World pirates left the thugs and went back to town, _now_ going to the hotel. When they entered, they passed Iceberg and told them that the thugs could work again. When they went to the room they were given the key to, they found two large beds. "Why only two?" Luffy asked.

"That's all that can fit into rooms. Maybe that's the maximum. We'll have to share," Sabo replied. His eyes flicked to the right and said, with a straight face. "We'll have to share. Ace and I will take one bed, you and Law will take the other." He hid a smile when Law's eyes widened and his face grew bright red. No one else noticed as they worked to get the furniture into the mirror world. Luffy created a large mirror and he and Ace pushed both beds into the alternate dimension.

"Luffy tosses and turns a lot in his sleep, but try to ignore it," Sabo said, and worked to move the other bed. Law couldn't use his room between both dimensions, because the mirror world clearly wasn't in the normal world.

They wandered around the city for a while again before going to get dinner and then heading back to their safe space. The mirror world was bright, light coming from the mirrors, so they had to fall asleep in the bright space. Luffy was curled up under the covers with Law laying next to him as close to the edge as he could be.

The other three fell asleep, but Law couldn't sleep for a long time. Then, sometime after he'd fallen asleep, Luffy rolled over and now had one arm and leg thrown across Law's chest and legs. He didn't wake up from this, but when Sabo woke up first, Ace still asleep, he chuckled and went to wake Law up, looking forward to his expression.

"Law, get up," he said quietly, shaking him. Law woke up, black hair a mess like Luffy's was, and he looked to the side and saw Luffy's face on his arm with his limbs loosely thrown over him. Law had never had a redder face than he did then.

Sabo chuckled, and Law put a hand over his face. "Law, have you noticed it yet?" he asked quietly. Luffy and Ace were still snoring away, Luffy drooling onto Law's arm, though it was covered in a long sleeve shirt. Law looked a bit wary and slightly confused. So he hadn't. It was painful to see him flounder around. "Don't you realize the reactions you give to Luffy? The blushing, fondness, physical touch, the nickname _only_ he has?"

Law's eyes widened. Looked like he'd finally realized. "Don't tell anyone else," he said, a humiliated expression on.

"I don't know if he feels the same, since he's stupid and clueless, but you're a good guy, Law. And good to him, so you have my blessing," Sabo said.

Law sputtered and then asked, "The age gap doesn't bother you?" Sabo shook his head. It was only a little under three years. Luffy was young, so maybe Law should at least wait until he was sixteen, but they'd grown up together, and were best friends. The age gap didn't matter much to Sabo.

"I trust you not to do anything inappropriate or that he wasn't okay with. Take your time, we're in no rush," Sabo said kindly, patting Law's shoulder before heading to his bed to get dressed in one of the new outfits they had bought.

Luffy woke up last, looking up at Law and then yawning, rolling over without a word and wiping his mouth. "Sorry I drooled on you," Luffy said with a yawn.

"Its fine, it was on my shirt, Luffy-ya," Law said in a fond voice. Luffy raised his eyebrows at it before grinning at him.

"Law sounds nice. Did something happen?" Luffy questioned. Law shook his head, hiding the smile. Sabo watched the reaction, and felt relieved that Law wasn't cutting the younger off after realizing he had a crush, at the least.

They left the mirror world after they were all dressed in new clothes, and left the hotel. Luffy asked to go and watch the shipwrights work, and they all agreed. The puppy dog face might just be his most powerful move. Law didn't even protest Luffy sitting on his shoulders. Luffy was light and short, and Law was strong and tall.

He looked so content, face relaxed and a light smile on. They walked around, not asking permission, but they would leave if asked. They saw some pirates being assholes to one of the builders, who grew angry and then beat the crap out of them. "Wow, they're strong!" Luffy said.

"I guess they have to be, making pirates pay for repairs or ships. We should know from experience. Most pirates are ruthless. We were once, too. But I think we're much better behaved," Ace said, hands behind his head. The backpack was in the mirror world, though Luffy still had all of the maps and money in his pockets.

When they found Paulie, after fighting the pirates, and he looked at the teens, Luffy waved and he backed up frantically. "Don't come any closer!" he shouted, and Law and the older brothers stopped. Luffy was confused. Were they mad at them?

Luffy asked why, with a pout. "You can turn men into women! Don't come any closer!" he shouted. Some of the shipwrights took up weapons and pointed them at them. They were truly afraid of Luffy's power.

"I only did that cause they're bad guys! If you guys attacked us, I wouldn't do that. Cause you're building us a ship!" Luffy pouted. Some of the weapons lowered, but they still looked uneasy. Paulie seemed to get a hold of himself and got back to work. A man with a pigeon walked over. He raised his hand, but the pigeon greeted the boys instead of him. Luffy was amazed.

"So, I heard you're New World pirates?" the pigeon asked. The teens nodded, and some of the workers stopped again, looking at them in awe. "Why are you in Paradise?"

Ace said, "We defected from another crew and wanted to form our own. We started out at this island first to buy a ship." The pigeon asked what he meant. "We started out here. Left Dressrosa and made our way to Water 7 to get a ship." He didn't really get what the Pigeon guy, Lucci as the pigeon introduced himself, was asking. Sabo did.

He explained that they'd used a devil fruit to get from Dressrosa to Water 7 in a couple days. He said he wouldn't go into detail on that. No one needed to know about their devil fruits or how they used them.

"That's very interesting. It's rare to meet New World pirates in Paradise. They don't often return here, unless they're a yonko going on vacation," the pigeon said. "I'd better get back to work, then." Lucci turned away and walked back to work on the ship.

For the next four days, the four pirates grew more impatient. Water 7 had become incredibly boring. There was nothing to do, and none of them trusted using the yagaras because there was no one to fish them out if they fell into the water.

They checked on their ship often, seeing it built up slowly. It started to look more and more like a ship as the days passed and not a wooden skeleton. The Franky family hadn't bothered them again, but apparently Franky had fixed himself. He didn't go to them, since they spent much of the day training in the yard area behind the hotel. Mostly working on their use of haki.

To anyone else, they would look incredibly violent, drawing blood on Law's face and bruising Luffy's limbs, but that was how they'd always sparred. No mercy. Well, since they were older. They never hurt Luffy when he was still a child. But of course Luffy could heal these injuries, wiping tears on Law's face and injuries. He'd become a master of crying on demand.

They flopped down on the grass, panting from the sparring. It had been all four of them, trying to see who would be the last one standing. Sabo won since haki didn't hurt him much. Ace got a bruise from it even after turning back into a logia, but Sabo didn't and Luffy grew tired. He wasn't allowed to inject adrenaline into himself during sparring since it was cheating.

They stared at the sunny sky, Luffy panting a bit, while Law was perfectly fine. "What kind of crew do you think we'll get? Where will we get them?" Luffy wondered, excitement in his voice.

"Hmm, well, Paradise people seem pretty weak. Unless we find someone spectacular here, I don't think we'll be finding any crew members in this sea. We're going back to the New World without waiting. We won't wait to train others to survive there," Ace said. The other three agreed with that. Especially since they'd no doubt pissed Doflamingo off, they needed strong crewmembers.

Luffy sighed. "I hope the islands are interesting," he said simply.

Sabo responded, "I'm sure they will be. Maybe not exciting, but interesting nonetheless. And we should take a different route in the New World than we had with Doflamingo. Everything will be new."

They were sitting on edge of the top fountain, looking out at the sea and snacking on chips the next day when they saw someone approaching the base of the fountain. "Oi! Brats!" It was Franky. "Just ignore him," Sabo said, and they resumed their talk about eating sea kings. They had no reason to talk to Franky. He was healed and his guys weren't cut up into pieces anymore. It was actually generous of them to put them back together.

He shot at them, trying to get their attention, but they leaned to the side to avoid them, using observation haki. "Go away!" Ace shouted over the noise of the fountain to their backs. They were shallow, so it wasn't likely that they'd drown in it. And Law could use takt and shambles to get them out of the water. "We aren't interested!"

Luffy ate another four chips he crammed into his mouth, wondering what Franky was there for. Why he had come all the way here. They'd only been able to get up there by Law using shambles and Sabo flying them up. They weren't getting down anytime soon, and definitely not for Franky.

"I want to negotiate a deal!" Franky shouted. Luffy bloomed at ear and mouth on the stone in front of him.

"Talk, what do you want?" the mouth asked. Franky started to talk. He wanted Luffy to turn his men back, they were miserable as women, and would give them anything they wanted. Apparently he worked on the black market. But there was really nothing that they wanted from the black market.

"We have no interest in anything you're offering," the mouth said simply. Franky got down on his knees and begged. The four were surprised, but it didn't move them. They'd seen plenty of begging back at Dressrosa, so they were used to ignoring it. Luffy looked at his favorite people.

Ace said, "I mean, we can't give off the idea that we're soft. We aren't on Doflamingo's crew anymore, right? We have to make a name for ourselves, and backing down due to begging would look bad, wouldn't it?"

Luffy and the other two agreed. It was a good point. They weren't noble. Luffy could be kind, but they were pirates. They had been on a ruthless crew, had killed people many times without a second thought. It was how they were raised. They wouldn't hurt innocent citizens, but apparently the Franky family were jerks and attacked citizens, stealing from them and being an all around nuisance.

Luffy spoke through the bloomed mouth. "We aren't noble. We've killed many people without a second thought. We're New World pirates. You should be grateful we didn't kill them. There's nothing you can do to change our minds. I won't reverse it. They have to learn to deal with it. That's it. Now stand up and stop embarrassing yourself. If you try anything, we will hunt you don't and kill all of you." Franky stood up and punched where the ear and mouth were, but they were gone by then. He glared daggers up at them, looking absolutely furious. But he couldn't harm them. And if he went after their ship, they would kill him and his family.

Law huffed. "They should be thankful I put them back together. I could have left them like that. We could have said no to Iceberg, but Luffy showed an act of kindness, and now he thought that you would be kind all the time." Luffy nodded in agreement. He may be kind deep down, but the way he was raised had made it so he was only kind when he was with someone he cared about, or the few times he went out of his way to do something nice. Like when he decided for them that Law would fix them up.

That night, they headed back to the mirror world and went to bed. They were completely safe there. It was a nice feeling. Soon they'd be out again, which would be nice. Comfy beds in a dark room to sleep in. If they weren't seasoned pirates, then sailing with only four people in the Grand Line would be foolish.

But they knew what they were doing and could protect themselves and each other just fine. Luffy shared the bed with Law again that night, and both of them fell asleep while facing one another. Luffy was easy to fall asleep. Law wasn't, and Luffy often helped him sleep, the only time Law was okay with him injecting anything into him.

On the final day that their ship was built, they encountered unexpected problems. Marines were on the island, looking for them. They weren't going to be beaten by fodder marines, and easily dispatched them. New World marines were much stronger, these ones were disposable. Something everyone knew. Sadly, the four knew they had been disposable as well when they thought they were important.

Though marines signed up knowing nobody cared about their lives. But, after the marines were all gone, two more skilled ones showed up. One was a woman and the other a large man. The woman looked furious. But all four of them could tell how strong they were. Much more than the marine fodder, but not close to New World marines in the slightest.

The woman was weaker than the man. He had a jitte, and Luffy stood in front of Law, who pushed him away and stood in front of him instead. They had a little tiff about who was protecting who, and got into an argument right in front of their enemies.

"I'm protecting you, this time!"

"No! I'm strong, I don't need it!"

"I'm strong, too you know."

Ace and Sabo had their faces in their hands, shaking their head. _Now_ they got in an argument? Though it was cute to Sabo. "Pay attention!" the man marine said, and flew at them, a logia eater made of smoke.

Luffy turned and said, "Don't interrupt us!" and punched him with a haki covered fist. He flew back, nursing a bloody nose.

"Smoker-san! H-How?" the woman asked, looking shocked. And the pirates were just as shocked. How did they not know what haki was? They were marines, weren't they? It was insane to think that Paradise marines didn't know haki, which was dominant in the New World. If you didn't know haki in the second half of the Grand Line, you were going to die.

Sabo asked, "You don't know what haki is?"

Smoker and the woman glared, clearly not wanting to answer, while giving it away easily. They didn't know what haki was. "If you don't even know that, you'd never survive the New World. We're out of your league. Besides, it isn't like you're special," Ace said, and turned his own arm into smoke.

They were both furious. "Go train for a couple years and come back then," Law said flippantly. Instead of landing a final blow, they made the ultimate insult and turned their backs on them chatting like nothing had happened. Of course they went after them and Luffy let the woman get a hit in, just to show her how out of their league he was.

The sword sunk into his body, the mochi allowing it to enter without any pain or damage, and he sucked it all of the way in and then out the front before breaking it in half and dumping it into the water way. "Bastards!" she screeched. Law turned around and swiped her legs out from under her with his own sword, which was longer than the one she'd had previously.

Smoker shouted her name, and aimed his jitte at Luffy, who dodged to the side and grabbed the metal by the middle crushing it easily and bending it in half so it broke. Ace said, "Told you you're nothing special. Go train, marine fodder. Come after us when the fight would actually be fun."

They didn't come after them again. The four knew that would have consequences, perhaps marine ships waiting for them to set sail. Law could just use takt and lift them up, then dumping it back into the water upside down.

Luffy giggled. "We sounded so cool and strong."

Law chuckled. "We sounded like assholes," he corrected.

Luffy amended, "We sounded both. Why are they so weak here? Aren't there strong pirates in Paradise? Or strong marines?" The others didn't have the answer. They shrugged.

When they woke up the next day, they all excitedly went to the shipyard and looked at the ship that was covered in a huge tarp. Paulie looked proud, and asked if they wanted to see their new home. The teens nodded, and the tarp was pulled off, landing on the stone ground in a pile. The ship had the railings painted white, having bars in them. They were higher just out of safety in case they came close to falling overboard.

The sails were white for now, and there was no black flag yet. They'd designed it on a flag they'd bought from the store a couple days ago. The cabin was one story, and when they jumped up, Ace using his fire power, Luffy the spring spring fruit, Law using takt on himself and Sabo flying up, they ran inside, even Law looking super enthusiastic.

There was no furniture yet, they were going shopping that day, but the rooms were fairly tight but definitely big enough for large beds and dressers bolted to the ground. They each had portholes. They headed further in to find the galley, with a long table secured to the floor. They'd buy the chairs.

The kitchen was big and beautiful, so clearly new and good quality. Upstairs there was a training room, and then next to it a lounge where they would put couches. The bathrooms were very big, with tubs more than big enough for them, with a shallow part and a deeper part so the devil fruit users would be able to use it easily.

Mirrors were everywhere, like they'd asked for. They would take care of this ship, but in case there was an absolutely hopeless situation, they had many entrances to the safe mirror world. They thanked the shipwrights earnestly, and then left to go and buy furniture.

By the time they were back in the ship, it had comfortable furniture, couches, chairs, dressers and beds, comforters, decorations, lounge chairs. And in one of the storage rooms, food from the market, plates and silverware, tools and supplies.

They bolted the furniture to the floor and then filled the galley with the maps and mapping tools. The logbooks were also put in the dressers. It was so cozy and homey. They all loved it. The ship was moved to the sea down a slide, and they finally set off on their own ship, the pirate flag flapping in the wind, on the mast above the crowsnest.

None of them were surprised when three marine ships were waiting for them. But they wanted to sail off in peace. They dispatched the ships from a distance. Ace shot bolts of lightning at the ships from a distance. That was easier than shooting fire, Law lifted them up and dumped them upside down, and Luffy thrust a huge barrier and damaged a ship beyond instant repair. The ships all ended up sinking, and they sailed away without further incident.


	8. Confession

**Starfire807: *cute emoji returned***

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Even cuter this chapter I think.**

**chickie434: Well, we don't know who the crew will be yet, so it's possible some of the strawhats would come aboard, but I won't say anything else about that. Lucci would probably turn them in if they asked him to join, since they are very powerful and could be major trouble for the world government. But, he has his mission in Water 7.**

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**Fluffy romance this chapter! Fishman island is next, and soon we'll have contact with the Whitebeards. It's hilarious and was so fun to write, so look forward to it! Enjoy~**

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Luffy stood on the lion figurehead, letting the wind blow in his face. They hadn't been out to sea in many years, and it was nice. He felt like he was home. This _was_ home, with the people he cared the most about. He couldn't wait to have more new friends. He couldn't wait for them to make a name for themselves.

Ace came up behind him and hugged him tightly. "Are you happy?" Luffy nodded, and grinned, turning around to hug his brother. "Me, too. After ten years of waiting to leave, live our own lives, we're here. _Finally_ free. Together. Nothing could make me happier right now."

Sabo came up and hugged them both back, with Law watching from the wall, leaning against it. Once Ace and Sabo let him go, he ran up to hug Law tightly. Law didn't really know what to do. "Can't leave you out!" Luffy said into his shirt. Law's hands hesitantly lowered to hug Luffy back tightly. Tighter than Luffy was expecting, but it was nice.

"Full speed ahead to the next island," Law said with a smile, voice content. He kept hugging Luffy until he let him go. Luffy grinned at him and told him he was a great hugger. Then he ran off to have some food.

Sabo clapped Law's shoulder before heading inside as well, with a chuckle. Ace had caught on and sent a look at Law before Sabo told him not to. Law was left outside for a bit before he went back inside, deciding to take a nap.

Sabo sat with Luffy at their new table in the chairs, where there were fourteen and then space at the head and back of the table just in case they ever had guests with their new crew, when they would fill up the table. "Luffy, how do you feel about Law?" Sabo probed, absolutely unable to help himself. He felt Law would make Luffy happy. More than he already did. Law had been Luffy's first real, close friend, so he mattered a lot to Luffy. Sabo wanted to know just how much and in what ways.

"What do you mean? He's the best, he's my best friend," Luffy said, shoving an apple down his throat whole.

"Just as friends?" Sabo questioned. Luffy's eyebrows furrowed. Luffy was confused. How else would he like Law? He loved him, he was his best friend and always treated him differently than anyone else. They'd been through a lot together.

Luffy frowned. "I… I don't know what you mean," he said cluelessly. Sabo just chuckled.

"Nevermind, Lu," Sabo replied. "Forget I said anything." But Luffy was still confused about the questions. Did Sabo think Luffy didn't like Law? That would upset him greatly. Sabo saw those thoughts on his face, and added, "I know you care about him a lot, and he cares about you a lot, too. He's been good to you, and you especially to him. I mean, you saved his life twice, right? You have to really care about him to do that."

"Of course!" Luffy exclaimed. Neither of them knew Law was standing outside the doorway, face shadowed by his ever-present hat. He went back to his room, deciding he wasn't hungry anymore.

-x-

Luffy noticed the next couple days that Law was avoiding him, and didn't give him any little touches. Luffy was worried he'd done something wrong, and moped on the back deck, facing the sea where they were coming from. He wanted to know what he'd done wrong, but didn't want to make Law even more upset with him.

He was curled up in a ball, pouting and feeling unwanted and useless. He didn't like feeling that way, and so he hardened his resolve and went to talk to him. He wanted to know what he did wrong so he could apologize and things would go back to normal. He found Law in his room on his bed, reading a log book that they'd stolen. Luffy walked right in, like he often did, and looked at Law with a depressed face. Law looked away.

"Did I do something wrong?" Luffy asked in a quiet voice, gripping his shorts. "If I did, I'm really sorry and I promise I won't do it again." He didn't know what he wouldn't do again, but definitely nothing to make Law upset.

Law sighed and patted the bed, where Luffy sat down, shoulders tense. "You didn't do anything wrong, Luffy-ya. I'm sorry I made you think that."

"Then why are you not being warm anymore?" he asked sadly. Law had a guilty look on, biting his lower lip and looking down, face pink. He took a deep breath, and didn't look at Luffy as he spoke.

"It's nothing you did, it's my own problems," Law said vaguely.

"Do you not like me anymore?" the younger asked in worry, trying to see Law's eyes but they were hidden under his hat. Luffy pushed the rim of his hat up and saw Law's eyes were red, like he was going to start crying. He pushed his hat down again, though he didn't swat away Luffy's hand.

"That's not it. It's… it's the opposite," he said. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say."

Luffy got closer and wiped Law's eyes from the tears. What did he mean? Could you like someone too much? That just didn't seem possible. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want you to hate me. I don't want to talk about it." Luffy felt like slapping him.

"How could you think I'd hate you?!" Luffy asked, angry and offended. "I could never hate you! You're my best friend!" Law winced at the words, and Luffy's face crumpled. Law didn't think of him as his best friend anymore. "I'm sorry I bothered you," he said quietly, and went to leave the room. Law stopped him, off of the bed in a second.

Law turned him around. "I don't hate you, I don't dislike you. I could never dislike you. You've been there for me since we met, always there to cheer me up or help me out. Or, or protect me when you don't need to. It just all piled up, everything great about you. I don't want to be your best friend anymore, Luffy-ya… I w-want to be more, but I know you don't feel the same."

Luffy was confused. "More?"

Law clenched his teeth, balled his fists, and took a deep breath. "I love you. I didn't realize it till lately, but I've loved you for a long time. More than best friend love." Luffy's eyes were wide. He wasn't stupid, he knew what love and relationships were. But… Law wanted to be with him like _that?_ Luffy didn't know how to feel like that. "I'm sorry, please don't hate me." Luffy hugged him.

"I could never hate you," Luffy repeated strongly. Law hugged him back. "I don't know how to feel that way, though. I love you as like family, my best friend. I don't know what other love feels like. At least, not yet. I'm too stupid to know that. I'm sorry. I don't want you to be sad because of me."

"You make me more happy than anyone else I've ever known. You can't make me sad," Law said strongly. But Luffy was confused. And why was Law smiling even though he had tears. Was he upset or happy? Luffy truly couldn't tell. "I'm so happy you don't hate me. I want to be close to you, even if it isn't like that. I don't want things to get awkward."

Luffy smiled, glad Law was happy again. "Things won't be awkward unless you make it awkward. I feel happy that you like me so much. I just don't know about my feelings. But I'll think about it, I promise. It must have been hard for you to tell me. I'm just happy you still like me, I was so scared you didn't like me anymore." Luffy hugged him back, and Law put his hand on Luffy's head in the hug.

"You're okay with me being in love with you?" Law asked quietly.

Luffy nodded. "Do the feelings make you happy?" he asked. Law nodded. "Then I'm glad you feel like that. I can't say I'll force myself to love you. Well, in a different way than I already love you. I don't know if I could in the first place, though."

Law pulled away. "That's fine, that's great." He was smiling brightly. Luffy smiled back just as brightly. He liked seeing Law so happy, especially because he was just so sad. He was glad it wasn't his fault Law was sad. Luffy really had no problem with Law feeling that way, he just didn't know if he could return the feelings. Part of him wished he could, but he didn't. At least, not now.

He wasn't ever looking to be in a romantic relationship. It had honestly never crossed his mind. Not once, even when Baby 5 started thinking anyone nice to her loved her and she'd gush about love. To everyone, it wasn't just the brothers and Law.

He eventually left the room cause he got hungry, like usual, and went to the kitchen. But Sabo was in there cooking. "Dinner is soon. Just wait, Lu," he said. Luffy sat at his chair and eyed Sabo.

"Did you know Law likes me like that?" he asked. Sabo's eyes widened. He thought for a moment before he decided to be truthful. Luffy would be hurt if someone lied to him. So Sabo confirmed that he did know that, and asked what had happened.

"Law got really sad and avoided me, so I went to talk to him. He said he loves me," Luffy said simply, in his usual voice. Sabo slowly asked what his reaction was. "I said I don't know how to feel that way, but I'm not at all upset he feels like that. I don't hate him, I still care about him a lot, and I always will. I feel kinda bad, though. He was so eager about it, and I sorta turned him down- nicely. I want to feel the same, cause Law is the best. I just don't know what those feelings feel like," he explained in detail.

Again, they didn't notice Law standing near the doorway, and he walked in with a smile on. Sabo asked Luffy to go get Ace, and he zipped away. "I'm sorry, Law," Sabo said, taking advantage of Luffy not being in there.

Law waved it off. "I love him. He doesn't love me, but he doesn't hate me. That's more than enough. I don't have to hide my feelings anymore. I won't do anything out of his comfort zone. Nothing will change, but I don't feel disgusted for liking him. I don't feel guilty. I do wish he returned the feelings, but I'll just hope they change in the future," he said, voice relieved. Sabo thought he was taking the sorta-kinda rejection very well.

He did feel bad for him, but was proud of Luffy's reaction. Luffy was so pure in some ways. He didn't like Law any less for having stronger feelings than he did. He even said he was happy with it. But Luffy would never do anything on purpose to hurt those he loved. He went out of his way to do the opposite.

When he and Ace entered, they both sat at the huge table, all at one end, and scarfed down the food. Sabo scolded them for eating too quickly. Law just had a content smile on, despite just being rejected in the kindest way.

Luffy was on watch that night, sitting in the crowsnest with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, thinking about everything. The next island they were going to, new crewmembers, looking forward to returning to the New World, and Law's confession.

In hindsight, Luffy should have noticed. But he was clueless like that. He felt warm that Law liked him enough to love him, too. He just didn't return the feelings. He deflated and sighed. He wanted to love Law. But would he even be good at it? He had no idea. But he knew both he and Law wouldn't like it if Luffy forced himself. Can you force yourself to have feelings like that about someone? He didn't know and wouldn't try.

He was distracted, but not enough so that he didn't see the ship not far off. He couldn't tell from there whether it was an enemy, as it was dark out. The sky was cloudy, so the moonlight was duller. He closed his eyes and looked again, with his devil fruit. It was a navy ship. He could fend it off.

When he felt a projectile coming, he created a huge barrier on the side of the ship, and the spear hit it dead on. Luffy brought down the barrier and decided he didn't want to deal with this right now. He wanted to think more, be alone and safe to be lost in his thoughts.

He didn't really use it much, not at all, but he decided it would be the easiest way to get it away. He stood on a barrier so it wouldn't damage the ship, and formed a fist that started to shake as he punched the air in front of him, forming cracks like the air was made of glass. It slammed him into the barrier as it sent shockwaves at the enemy ship, which exploded into pieces. The ship was in perfect shape thanks to the barrier.

He rubbed his hand. It always made him sore. He was much smaller than Whitebeard was, so the attacks made him ache from the force of it. He jumped back up to the crowsnest and put the blanket around him again, falling back into his thoughts.

The others didn't come out, though they no doubt woke from the deafening noise and tremble of the ship. They trusted that Luffy took care of it, able to tell he was fine with haki.

He switched with Ace in the middle of the night, and told him briefly about what happened before heading to his room, and his wonderful bed. He fell asleep only after he injected himself with melatonin. He fell asleep easily after that.

The next day, Law seemed perfectly happy, spending time with Luffy more than before, but not in a pushy or uncomfortable way. It was nice and alleviated the worries that things would change for the worse. Sabo and Ace were impressed and pleased by Law's response to the rejection. They were only distracted when the newscoo dropped the paper. They'd just subscribed to it at Water 7. It didn't hold news from the New World, which was a bit irritating. They couldn't go into the mirror world to check up on Dressrosa because it took them days to get from there to Water 7.

The brothers' bounties went up by 50,000,000 million each, where Law's skyrocketed to just below theirs, as he was finally acknowledged for being strong as well. Now they had sizable bounties for the Grand Line. And it was strange, though, that the paper called them super rookies. They weren't rookies! They'd been pirates for most of Luffy's entire life!

It irritated each of them, Ace the most. Oh well, they'd make it known soon that they weren't just some rookies. It was weird, though. They had had bounties while in Doflamingo's crew, but maybe the executives just drowned them out? Hmm.

Iceberg had warned them about the Florian Triangle, but with Luffy's glare-glare fruit, he could navigate it just fine. The fog was a bit creepy, and the four of them were on guard, even Luffy, but they ran into nothing and no one. Well, they did see a barrel, but they'd been in the Grand Line long enough to not trust things floating in the water, asking you to open it. Even Luffy wasn't that stupid. Not that he was stupid. Just had a simple brain.

"This is creepy," Law said simply, standing on guard at the railing.

"I'll protect you," Luffy joked. Law chuckled and said he wasn't going to get into the argument again, since neither of them would back down or win. Sabo steered the ship while Luffy told him which direction to go. They just barely missed a huge, broken and haunted looking ship, sailing past it with no problem.

The good thing was that they had no enemies out there. It was quiet, too. The water was calm but the wind was taking them along just fine. It was smooth sailing, even though they were all on guard. Ace was in the crowsnest, Sabo steering, Law keeping his haki open, and Luffy having a bird's eye view. They were the ultimate team, and it made Luffy proud to be close to such cool people.

It took them two days to get through it, but they popped out of the purple fog and cheered when they saw the blue sky again. Luffy looked at the clouds, smiling. The florian triangle had sucked big time. Sabo steered the ship back in the direction of the Paradise log pose. It was so simple compared to the New World one.

They all relaxed on deck for a while, before Luffy said, "I'm going to start learning everyones' powers. I no longer have to follow their rules. I won't learn the hobby-hobby. That one is truly evil. I'll learn Doflamingo's, Pica's and Baby 5's," he declared.

"That's a good idea. Hey, did you ever get their appearances?" Ace questioned, laying on a blanket on deck. Luffy grinned and turned his face into each of the executives. He had Doflmanigo's glasses because none of them had ever seen him without them. Did he even have eyes? They always wondered but never asked.

"They never wanted me to, but I couldn't help to never touch their faces in ten years," he giggled. "And! I can make whatever clothes I want. I could ruin his reputation, now that I think about it. I could turn into them, and make them wear the most humiliating outfits! That would be the best!" The others started laughing, and requesting he dress up. "Okay!"

The first request was Dolfamingo is a tutu. Luffy did so, and they all roared with laughter. Next was Pica in a ball gown. Diamante in a onesie. Luffy refused to do Trebol, not wanting to even risk the drippy nose. "If we can camera den dens, that would be the best!" Ace laughed. Luffy changed back to himself, shrinking and having a clothes bunch around him before they disappeared and he was back to normal.

Law was lounging against the railing. "If you ever do that to us, I with cut you up into pieces and leave you like that for a whole day." Luffy grinned mischievously and patted his face, turning into Law. "Don't you dare," he threatened. Luffy stabbed his fingers into his side and turned into female-Law. Luffy's eyes flared before he got up and tackled his woman-self until Luffy went back to normal.

"Are you gonna chop me up now?" Law hit his face, though not hard at all, and called him manipulative.

"Nah, you know you love me," Luffy said in a joking voice, something he always said.

"Yeah, I do," Law said pretty seriously, and Luffy's face turned red a bit. Sabo said, "Awwww," lightly and Ace rolled his eyes, though his cheeks were a bit pink. Law was perfectly at ease, and Sabo gave him a small nod. Sabo was rooting for him, to be honest.

The group eventually settled down, Luffy creating them some ice cream since it was pretty hot outside, but they wanted to enjoy the sun after the dark fog they'd been stuck in for days. After a while of relaxing, Sabo went inside and then came back out saying, "We should reach Saboady in a week. Then it's the New World again!" The others cheered. Paradise was boring and they'd barely seen any of it on their own. But they were impatient to be back in the _true_ sea. The one that would kick your ass if you let it.

The little break had been nice, but they had become bored almost immediately.

They were attacked by a pirate crew not long after they exited the Florian Triangle without incident. It was a weak crew, probably seeing only the four of them out on deck. Oh, how wrong they were to think the teens were easy picking. The four jumped onto the enemy ship, Luffy wrapping the railings together with mochi so they would stay connected.

There were twenty people on the ship, and when the four dragged the beaten bodies of their crew members inside to all of the others, they must have looked like demons."Now, where is all of your treasure? We'll be taking it. And any maps you have," Sabo said simply.

"Fuck you! You think we'll give you all our shit willingly?!" one of them said, a more stupid one. Luffy shot a spike from his hand into the guy's left eye. He screamed, and Luffy heated up his finger.

Another one said, "Fine! Fine, we'll give it to you!" Luffy withdrew his spike from the man's burned and bleeding eye. He tearfully, and painfully took three of them to the interior of the ship while Law stayed out on deck, guarding the Fate. That's what they named it, the Fate.

The three brothers brought out chest after chest of treasure, and Sabo swiped maps and books. One attacked Luffy, and he turned him into a woman. It was Luffy's absolutely _favorite_ thing to do. To see how freaked out people got when they turned into the opposite sex. It was hilarious. He did it to as many bad people as he could.

They left the ship in pieces, crushing it with Luffy's gravity power. It was very powerful, and difficult to utilize, similar to the quake-quake fruit. So he rarely used it, but when he did it was for destroying something completely.

When they searched through the chests, they found a devil fruit. Of course none of them could or wanted to eat it. They still had the worn out encyclopedia and found it was the dark-dark fruit. Ace wasn't fond of that power. He felt it was a cop-out. Just to make things disappear without doing any real work in the first place.

They stuck it in a wooden box and tossed it overboard. They had no use for it, and didn't need money by selling it. Someone would find it someday. They came across more pirates, and got more treasure and more use of their powers. Law practiced his powers on ships, seeing just how big of things he can chop up in his rooms. He did it to a galleon, and it fell to pieces, sinking in the sea.

Ace had learned how to turn other objects into sand, and decided to dissolve much of them. It was good practice. But, they had a problem when they were out on deck, two days from Sabaody and nine pirate "attacks" later. Ace started to sweat profusely, and they worried he was sick.

But water started pouring from his body like a fountain, leaking all over the deck. "Is this another power?" Sabo asked, standing beside his leaking brother, unable to do anything to stop the flow.

Ace shook his head. "It can't be, there are no logia powers of just water," he said, and tried turning into fire, erupting into scalding steam that was so thick it looked like Ace was smoking. Sabo put a finger on his chin, and Law suggested that it could be a fruit no one had ever discovered.

"That would be so awesome!" Luffy gushed. Law smiled at him fondly.

"It's not awesome _now."_ God, Ace had not missed being out of control in an ability. But he was seasoned at this, it would probably take him just the rest of the day to stop the flooding. He didn't get dehydrated despite all of the water leaving his body. It contradicted three of his powers. Fire, magma, and sand. If he was in magma, it would harden his body, if he was sand, he turned into a mud puddle, and the fire just caused a copious amount of steam.

The good thing was that he was adept at only making his body one element at a time. He slept out on deck on a mochi bed so he didn't flood the interior. But, he got it under control by the next day, which was lucky as they neared Sabaody. They'd go see Rayleigh again. They'd met him before, when they were younger. Now they had their own ship to get coated.


	9. Entertainment In Many Forms

**Kuro_hime46 & chickie434: We'll just have to see, but they do gather a crew with multiple familiar faces. (And a single OC that I have in my other fics. Sorry, I know most don't like OCs but I wanted to have a cook that wasn't Sanji.)**

**chickie434 (again lol): I tried so hard to keep them adorable without being stupidly-cute. I tried keeping both of them more in character, even if Law is different due to Luffy in his childhood.**

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Thank you. :)**

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**More OP moments in this chapter. Soon, I promise, will be the Whitebeards' involvement again. Enjoy~**

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Luffy stuffed a huge amount of money into his leg pocket for them to spend. When they got to the island, they docked at the closest part of Shaky's Rip-off Bar. Luffy put many layers of mochi and hardened candy over the entrance into the ship so that no one could get in. He covered the portholes with mochi as well from the inside. No one would be getting inside or stealing the ship.

The four left the ship and headed inland. They had actually not gotten onto the island last time they'd been to Sabaody. Luffy was ill that day, and Ace and Sabo didn't want to leave him. Law stayed too, pretending he just didn't want to go and wasn't worried about Luffy.

So it was their first time walking on the spongy ground. Luffy bounced on it happily and ran off to the bar. The other three ran after him, calling him to come back. Luffy didn't, and ran to the bar. He knew where it was from previous scouting with his power.

They all arrived and entered the bar. "Welcome," Shakky said. "What can I get you?" Luffy pulled out a thick wad of bills from his pocket and put it on the counter. It was far too much for any sort of expensive drink.

"We need our ship coated," Luffy said with a smile. Law was leaning against the wall while Ace and Sabo sat on either side of their younger brother. Shakky took the bills.

"I'll go get Ray-san. Have we met before? How do you know of him?" she asked curiously, pocketing the money.

Luffy replied, "We used to be Donquixote pirates. We never got off of the ship onto the island, but we remember Rayleigh. We're here on our own ship now! And we want to go back to the New World." Shakky raised her eyebrows, but didn't reply.

Not long after, Rayleigh came out. "I heard you used to be on Doflamingo's crew? I didn't take him as someone who would let his crew go off on their own," he said curiously, sitting on the couch attached to the wall. Law frowned and Sabo explained.

"We defected. He tried to kill one of us, so we ditched," he said simply. "He's a master liar and manipulator. And not just that he can control your body with strings." It was short and to the point.

"Well, I'll be pleased to coat your ship. Though, may I ask you all a question? It may be personal," the man said respectfully. The teens nodded their heads. "Do you have devil fruits? You all, you three especially, feel quite powerful. And look very familiar."

Ace said, "We had bounties a couple years ago that started circulating again. We ate the all-all fruits. Law has the ope-ope fruit." Shakky widened her eyes and Rayleigh looked intrigued. "We can utilize most of them. Sabo and I can use each, while Luffy still has some he isn't good at or thinks are useless. I ate the logia, Sabo the zoan and Luffy the paramecia." Shakky leaned against the bar, and asked if they could use certain peoples' powers.

"I can use Whitebeard's fruit, though it hurts my arm, so I don't like it much. Ace can use those admiral's powers and Sabo can be a phoenix and dragon. So we have a wide range of abilities," Luffy said. "And Law can chop people up and stick them back together in different places," Luffy bragged. Law pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, I can do that," he said grudgingly. Luffy laughed, and Law cracked a small smile, too.

Rayleigh was smiling at them, and said, "The coating should be done by tonight. It's still quite early. Usually I would be going gambling about now, but you've given more than enough cash, so I'll do it quickly." They thanked him and described the appearance and location of their ship.

The four were about to leave to explore the island while waiting when Shakky said, "It is curious you're here when all of the other rookies are at the same time." She looked surprised when they all grumbled. "What is it?"

Ace sighed, and said, "We're _not_ rookies. We've been pirates for a decade, much of it spent in the New World. It's insulting to be called rookies, like those guys who can barely survive the Paradise marine fodder."

Shakky chuckled. "Well, don't get into too much trouble," she said. "Ray-san will be done with coating by tonight, and you can set out then if you wish." Sabo thanked her, and the four walked into town, Luffy latching onto Law's back, hanging off of him. Law, of course, didn't mind. Both of his hands were under Luffy's thighs while he youngest carried Law's sword in front of him.

The four went looking for some food when they noticed so many bounty hunters. They weren't pleased by this, knowing all of them were weaklings and would be no fun to fight. So, they ignored them, obviously, and shopped for figurines or candy. Luffy wished he could make a variety of candy, but there was only mochi and hard candy.

They noticed soon that there were only a handful of people on the island who had any hope for being big time pirates in the New World. The super rookies, most likely. They were scattered about the island. The four wanted to run into them and have a near-satisfying fight. They were eating at a takoyaki stand when the first of them approached. A redheaded man. Eustass Kid. The four of them ignored him as they talked and joked.

"So, you're the all-all guys," he said. "And the misfit," he said towards Law.

"Don't be rude to Law," Luffy snapped. "You stupid pineapple hair."

Sabo said, "It's not even yellow, Luffy."

Ace added, "But it's spikey, so he was right." Law just sighed and stuck another takoyaki ball into his mouth. Kid was angry now, and sucked a bunch of metal into his arm, and went to punch Luffy, but he put his hand up and repelled Kid away with his own power. The four stood up, and Law got his sword ready to fight.

"We were enjoying lunch, you weak prick," Ace snapped. Luffy nodded and Sabo crossed his arms.

"You asshole, how dare you use my power on me!" Kid shouted. Luffy grinned, and put his hand up to gather metal, including table legs and chairs, before he shot them at Kid, who repelled them back, and Luffy put up a barrier where the metal and weapons exploded against it. The barriers were always completely invincible, even to haki.

Kid glared daggers at Luffy, who chuckled. "I think I made him angry." Ace popped his neck and told Luffy he was good at that. "Thank you."

"Not always a compliment, Luffy-ya," Law added in a flat voice. Kid was angry for their nonchalance. He attacked them once again, but it was Ace and Sabo's turn. Sabo turned into a phoenix and attacked him while Ace shot plumes of flame at him. He was useless against the attack; they already knew the weakness of that fruit, and it was that it was slow to use. You had to gather all of the metal first. And if the metal was at a distance, it would be too late before you were dead. Luffy didn't use this power for that reason.

Kid was overwhelmed by their attacks, left with burns and scratches. "My turn," Law said, and created a room. "Luffy-ya," he said in that voice, and Luffy knew what he wanted. Their special strategy that always worked. It was ultimate team work. By now, Kid's crew had gathered, and the first mate was clenching his fists as he watched his captain get pummeled.

Luffy formed haki on his fist and got ready to punch Sabo. When his fist was a centimeter away from Sabo's face, Law shambled Kid to where Sabo was, and the rookie got a face full of armament haki, throwing him into the nearest building and out the back, rolling hard and finally hitting a tree.

Luffy blew on his fist for show. "That was a bit much, Lu," Sabo said, walking over once again. Ace huffed, he was barely able to do anything. Law turned to Kid's crew, who were speechless. The captain was knocked out completely and bleeding heavily from the head. He was missing some teeth. Law smirked and asked, "Who's next?"

The crew ran off towards their captain, shouting his name in concern and horror. "I shouldn't have gone that hard. He might be a fun opponent some day."

Law shrugged, and Sabo suggested he could heal him. "It would be the ultimate shame though, being healed by someone who kicked your ass." Luffy hummed before he decided against it. Said that he wouldn't survive in the New World if he couldn't take a punch like that and live.

Their lunch was ruined, and it made them a bit sad. They paid the worker for the damages and then left. The bounty hunters that were after them had mysteriously fled once they saw the four in action. Luffy was back to hanging off of Law's back, hands holding the sword against his chin rested on Law's shoulder. The older teen was not blushing, but smiling lightly. Sabo really was glad about his reaction to everything. Ace was thankful as well, that he didn't get upset or distant when Luffy's softly rejected him.

Word spread quickly, and crowds dispersed when they came into view. Even other rookies watched them from the sidelines, staying inside or just far enough away. They thought they weren't visible, but they were easily sensed by observation haki.

"You know… maybe it was lucky we were on Doflamingo's ship so long. It made us strong. Well, that's why we agreed to go in the first place, but still," Ace said as they walked through town. The streets were deserted where they were. Luffy had dropped off of Law's back and was walking closely, closer than usual. It was clear Law enjoyed it, and risked awkwardness by putting an arm on Luffy's skinny shoulders. Luffy didn't pull away, and just continued to talk and babble about random things.

Law smiled lightly at what was happening. Either Luffy didn't notice what was happening or liked it. Probably liked it since he was a fan of physical attention. Holding hands, hugging, leaning against his brother or Law. He soaked up physical contact.

They were nearing the middle of the island when the next of the rookies appeared. The sky-island guy, Urouge. They didn't know much of his power. "You here to get your ass whooped as well?" Sabo questioned.

He grinned. "Cocky brat," he said in an amused voice. The four got ready to attack, though Law was not going to use his fruit anymore. He didn't know if he'd need to use it for something important, and he'd already used it once.

Sabo transformed into a wolf, Ace decided to use his light powers, and Luffy brought out his negative ghosts. Urouge charged at them, but they easily evaded, and Luffy didn't punch, but ordered the ghosts to attack him. "Come'on punch m- I wish I was a water flea…" the big, scary pirate lamented, on the ground with tears coming from his eyes.

The three laughed at him while Law just scoffed at the scene. Luffy, thankfully, had never put them through this particularly embarrassing attack. Ace shot some beams of light through him and Sabo ripped him apart. He screamed and was knocked out of his trance. "You shits!"

Law moved and cut off one of his wings with his sword, not using his powers. Luffy wished he fought with his sword more. It looked really cool, unlike those men under Doflamingo who fought with cheap swords, barely knowing how to use them. Law's power (and Luffy's old power) was really cool, so seeing it in action was fun. But seeing Law use the sword as a sword was really cool, too.

Urouge screamed. "You called us cocky, yet you were so confident? We know how that power works, and we won't be giving you any blunt force attacks," Sabo said simply. Luffy nodded, and jumped up high before turning and pointing to the man and crushing him into the ground with gravity.

No one was around anymore, not even watching closely. "I wonder if any of them are worth it. I'm embarrassed we're called super rookies as well. And our bounties are too small," Ace commented dryly, sitting on Urouge's unconscious and bloody body. Luffy asked how they could get them up. "Fighting a higher up and winning, but I don't want to fight an admiral in Paradise. Plus, we have to go with our ship coated. We shouldn't stay here too long."

Law and Sabo nodded in agreement, while Luffy turned some rocks into donuts and was eating them while looking around, wondering if anyone was going to approach them. They wandered away, leaving Urouge's body as his crew finally ran to him to try and wake him up.

When they got to the busiest part of the island, no one ran away, probably not knowing what had happened near the slum part of the island. Luffy was pulling money out of his pocket again so they could buy the bubble corals to use. Luffy was ecstatic for them. He changed his weight and got into one of the bubbles and started floating up into the air.

When the bubble popped from above, and he started to fall back to the spongy ground, Law caught him before he hit the ground. Luffy beamed at him, and he smiled back. He was put down and Luffy watched as bubbles came out of the ground. It really was amazing.

They walked towards Sabaody Park, Luffy insisting they go have fun, when they came across a line of bowing citizens. Celestial Dragons. Well, they wouldn't bow to them. They walked right past them, across the trail they were walking on. They ignored their anger at the four of them being "trash" and ignoring them.

Law had an anger fit that the other three had never seen when the world noble said he'd take the smallest brat as a slave. He reacted badly, and snarled at them. "The fuck did you just say?" he growled.

"How dare you swear at me?! Give me that boy, I'll kill just him in front of you," the ugly man snapped. He looked so stupid and ugly.

"Room!" Law called, the nobles all being cut in half by his sword and attached to one anothers' different body parts. Predictably, people started screaming and running away, all besides the rookies who were near, even if they hadn't been spying on them.

"Aw, Law, an admiral will come now," Sabo complained. Luffy countered that and stabbed the den den mushis that the guards had, and ran to them, tying them up with mochi and shoving his hand into the nobles' heads to erase their recent memory. He did the same for the guards. The nobles were left there, hopelessly cut into little, disfigured pieces.

They left the group of screaming nobles, who had no idea what had happened. Luffy took their memories from the moment they saw the three. "Off to the park!" Luffy exclaimed, arms up in the air. They went to the amusement park and bought their tickets to get inside, and went from one ride to another. Law sat next to Luffy on all of the rides.

He felt sick while Luffy was screaming at the top of his lungs, hurting Law's ears but he didn't say anything about it. "Let's go on that one!" Luffy said after Law's nausea was over. Sabo had convinced Ace to let Law and Luffy go off together. Ace wasn't nearly as invested of their relationship, but Law made Luffy happy, so he couldn't protest if anything _did_ happen.

"There is absolutely no way I'm going on that. Even your puppy dog eyes couldn't get me to do it," Law said firmly.

Ten minutes later, and they were in line, Luffy excited but Law clearly nervous. It made Luffy laugh inside, that he was more scared of a roller coaster than risking an admiral to come. They got into the cages and Law was super stiff while Luffy swung them back and forth. "Luffy-ya, please stop," Law said, embarrassed. Luffy stopped, though it naturally swung a bit.

"Everyone is scared of something," Luffy said simply.

"This is nothing compared to my biggest fear, don't worry," Law said. Luffy wondered what the biggest fear was, so he asked. "Losing you," the older teen said simply. Luffy's face turned red, but he smiled softly. "Though this does make me nervous." Luffy giggled, and hoped Law would scream. It would be funny.

When the roller coaster started to go, the cage swung back and forth, upside down rapidly and being thrown upwards and then downwards. Luffy shrieked, happily but also in fun fear. Law had his mouth clamped so tightly, trying so hard to not scream as he scrunched his eyes together. Luffy did hear a small whimper when they flipped three times in a row.

They both held on to the bar in front of them, pushed back in the seat and being thrown forward a bit into the caged wall. Once the ride started to slow down and they gradually made their way off of the ride, both of them were a bit wobbly, but regained their senses quickly. "I need a break or I'm gonna throw up," Law said.

Luffy nodded and they both went to a picnic table, Luffy creating a lolly pop to suck on. "That was fun! I wonder where Ace and Sabo are." They didn't need to ask as flames suddenly erupted from the bathrooms. Screaming was made, but the fire disappeared quickly. Luffy laughed, but Ace and Sabo came running over, no doubt Sabo was able to smell them.

"We got into some trouble and might want to leave," Ace said, hiding laughter. Sabo smacked his arm and called him stupid. Law asked what the problem was. "I had to piss and two people were having sex in one of the porto potties. Who does that?"

Luffy laughed. "That's weird." The other three nodded. "But you didn't need to set it on fire." Ace didn't argue, but didn't agree.

Ace asked Luffy if he went on the caged one. "I did! Law didn't like it, but it was super fun! Scary a little, but fun still. We only went on it once and then had to have a break and sit down. It made us dizzy. We went on almost every ride." He and Ace started gushing about the rides and how much fun they'd had while Sabo walked a few feet ahead of them.

"How'd it go?" Sabo asked. Law eyes him strangely.

"Are you a matchmaker now, or something?" he asked. Sabo shrugged and said he just wanted them to be happy. "I am happy. I'm happy just being around him, even if he doesn't feel the same. I know things wouldn't be very normal if I was partners with him. I don't think he'd ever want to do intimate things, or be gooey. I want him to be happy, even if it's not while being with me like that.

"I just love his smile and want to see it all the time. That's enough for me," Law said, clearly being honest. Sabo smiled again, thinking Law had come so far since they first met, when he thought Luffy was the most annoying kid on the planet, which had been relatively true at the time. But now Law was in love with him. It was strange, but sweet.

They didn't know Luffy heard the whole conversation, face pink with a tiny smile on.

They stayed on the island a bit longer, no problems coming, meaning the memory wipe was a good idea. They were a bit disappointed that none of the other rookies approached them, not like they thought they would be any match for them if the one with the highest bounty hadn't been wiped out easily.

When it was later, they returned to the place their ship was docked at and found it coated completely. They knew how it had to work to get underwater, but none of them could do that, as they were all devil fruit users. So they returned to the bar to ask Rayleigh to help them out one more time. He agreed without pausing, and the five went back to the ship. The former pirate went under the ship for them and took off the contraption that let them sink below.

"Thank you!" Ace and Luffy called. Rayleigh waved back and wished them luck. They quickly sunk under the surface of the water, the bubble carrying them downwards in a slow manner, their sail unfurled and leading them downwards. They had directions on how to use the bubble, so they knew what they were doing. Plus, they'd watched the executives do the work last time. It really was lucky they'd been living with New World pirates for so long. Maybe they'd start hearing about what happened at Dressrosa after they exiled Sugar and released all of her toy prisoners.

It had been weeks since they defected. Was Doflamingo looking for them? Who knew? Well, probably the New World newspaper. They came across some sea kings wishing for trouble, or huge fish, but Ace and Luffy knocked them out with haki. Ace was better at controlling it than Luffy. On accident, he knocked out Law and Sabo. Ace bonked his head, "Nice going."

Luffy pouted at him, irate that he used haki so it would hurt. "Butt-head," Luffy called him. Ace turned around with a deadly smile.

"What did you call me, little brother?" he asked, and Luffy squealed, putting up a barrier between himself and Ace.

"Butt-head! Ace is a hairy butt-head!" he taunted from his safe space. Ace grumbled at him and woke Law and Sabo. Law stood up and asked what was going on. Ace told Law to use shambles to get Luffy out of his safe space.

Law smiled and made a room. "Don't do it!" Luffy shouted. "Shambles!" "Ahh, noo!" Luffy screamed as Ace tackled him. "Law, you're a butt-head, too!" he shouted through the laughter.

Said teen replied with, "Payback for making me go on that damn ride." Sabo watched from the railing, amused and entertained. He looked back up at the surface of the water that was getting further and further away from them, the light still visible but dimming slowly.


	10. Shooting Down an Offer

**The Whitebeards have arrived in the story! I hope everyone finds it funny, it was a joy to write! OOC character because that's just how they are after living with Doffy for so long. Enjoy~**

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After Luffy caught his breath when Ace stopped tickling him, they got out lawn chairs and brought them out on deck to lay or sit on and watch the ocean around them. Big fish and sea kings seemed to have gotten the message about staying away. They did see a pod of whales swim past, which was an amazing sight.

Law sat next to Luffy, Sabo and Ace on the other side. Sabo was reading a logbook about the trip to Fishman Island and how to get into the large bubble. It was what felt like forever ago. Luffy paid attention to their surroundings while Ace napped and Law was laying with his hat over his eyes, even if it wasn't bright at all now.

When they got too deep to see anything, they turned the outside lamps on, and Ace turned into bright light and directed it in front of them by only changing his chest into it. Rocks were ahead of them, so Sabo steered the ship around it. The log book said there was a place the current would suck them down, so they were ready when they reached that point, and Luffy stuck them onto the deck with mochi so they didn't fall forward into the bubble from the sharp dip.

Once they leveled out, Sabo expertly maneuvered the ship around any rocks or the bottom of the trench. Ace still had the light on, which was incredibly helpful. It took another half hour to reach near the bottom, where they sailed smoothly to the bubble.

It was not a new sight to them, but it was still beautiful and amazing. So bright and vibrantly colored. They steered the ship to the port that they'd enter smoothly with the bubble coating. They had been unable to alert the island of their arrival, but they would seem relatively harmless, with no weapons but Law's single sword and only four of them, all teenagers. Well, Law looked like he was in his early twenties and Luffy looked younger than he was.

They floated just outside the bubble entrance, and a fishman came out, entering the bubble. "Hello, sir," Sabo said. "We want to enter the island and get to the New World. You can search our ship, if you'd like." The fishman gave them a pleasant look, and went inside to search the place. The four didn't have a problem, knowing he wouldn't steal or harm anything.

He came back out, and asked who they were. "Freedom Seekers. We're kinda a new crew. We only have four members." Then he asked why they had no weapons, though it didn't sound suspicious. Law pointed out his sword, which the fishman hadn't noticed at first.

"This is the only weapon we have, but the four of us all have devil fruits," Ace explained. They were all standing in a comfortable manner, seeming harmless and relaxed. And they were. This guy couldn't lay a finger on them. He asked what devil fruits, and they lied easily. Well, except for Law.

"I'm a fire logia, Sabo is a zoan, not a carnivore, Luffy can create barriers and Law has the ope-ope fruit," Ace explained. Since Luffy could use the barrier fruit in many ways, it was one of his most used one, except cruely turning enemies into the opposite sex. "We're skilled at our devil fruits, but we won't hurt you."

The fishman nodded, and led their ship through the entrance and into the main bubble, where the coating of the ship popped loudly. "I assume you haven't been here before?"

"No, we've been to the New World before. This is our second time but our first time as our own crew. We defected from our last," Sabo said. Luffy was latching onto Law's back again. Law never complained, even before he had feelings for Luffy more than best friends.

The fishman didn't ask anymore questions, and Luffy went inside to lock the entrance door and cover it with hardened candy and mochi so no one could enter. Then Law shambled him out of the room, and the four got off, Luffy jumping back on Law's back.

He had stuffed a ton of cash into his leg pocket, and paid the workers for them to coat the ship. "It should be ready in two days. We have many ships to coat." Sabo thanked him, and they went on their way to explore the island. They stuck together, even if they could all defend themselves just fine.

Luffy, of course, wanted to try food first. Something new, that he might be able to recreate if it was yummy. They went to the first they could try, and saw the fried sea king meat, Luffy drooling over it before they bought some. "Thank you!" Luffy said once they bought a ton of the food. The fishman didn't look happy they were there.

The four sat at a nearby table, feeling the glares directed at them. Law's sword was propped up next to him against the table. He wasn't worried about anyone stealing it. They would never get far enough for him to be worried.

After they ate, they wandered around for a while, Luffy picking up the prettiest seashells and putting them in his empty pocket. He had to either shove his hands down his shorts or come from under and bunch them up to reach the pockets. They came across some mermaids, who asked if they wanted to swim with them. The three were good looking while Luffy was cute.

But they declined, though Ace had pink cheeks. They couldn't swim anyway and the others besides Ace weren't really interested. Obviously, Law wasn't interested. Only for Luffy, which Sabo chuckled at when Law just looked at the mermaids with a dead stare.

They eventually found a secluded place and Luffy made them some mochi couches to sit on and watch the creatures swim outside of the bubble. Some were scary looking, but didn't come close to the bubble. They didn't look anything like the fish or sea kings they'd seen before, but more flat and white, with white eyes. Big and small. Sabo said they were bottom feeders, which was why they looked so weird. "Since it's so dark at this depth, they don't need sight."

Surprisingly, they were approached by one of the princes. The one that didn't make annoying noises. They hadn't broken any laws, were just chilling by themselves alone, talking or being silent.

"Are you three all-all eaters?" he asked, getting straight to the point. The three didn't answer, so Law did.

"What's it to you?" he asked in a cold voice. The prince wasn't deterred or upset by the attitude.

He replied, "I need to know so I can call Whitebeard." The other three blinked twice and looked at one another. Were they still angry they invaded their ship and stole their trash? Surely not, they hadn't stolen _anything_ of value, and had not hurt any of them. They pushed Marco out of the mirror world, but he wasn't hurt. Well, he couldn't be hurt, since he was a phoenix zoan.

"Why?" Luffy finally asked. "All we did was steal some trash, are they still angry?"

The merman prince shook his head. "They aren't angry, they want to meet you and maybe take you into the crew. I need to tell them you've arrived, so will you confirm?"

Ace looked away, and casually said, "Sorry, but we're not interested. Tell him that we were already under another crew for our powers and won't be doing it again. He doesn't need to go through the trouble to meet us here. Besides, even if we didn't have badass powers, we still wouldn't be interested. Not to be disrespectful, just honest," he added, not wanting to get in a tiff with the royalty of the island.

The merman said nothing more, though he had a disappointed expression on, and left. Sabo said, "I don't have a good feeling about this." The other two older ones nodded, but Luffy wasn't concerned.

"We could take 'em," he said simply.

"I'm glad you have such confidence in us, but Whitebeard is a yonko. Meaning he has subordinate crews all over the New World. If we did anything to them, those crews would be after us. Sure, they would be fun to fight, but we'd be heavily outnumbered. We just have to hope they'll accept the answer," Sabo explained. Luffy offered to try and find them and see where they were.

Law said that was a good idea, so Luffy laid back and closed his eyes. He was still for a good hour before he caught sight of the massive ship. It wasn't very far from the Red Line, but still more than a week away from it. It would take them two days to have their ship coated, and then five to get away.

He got closer and looked inside the ship, finding Whitebeard and Marco. They were talking and Luffy was able to plant an ear on the wall. It was a bit draining to use that power at a wide distance. He was watching and listening.

"If they don't want to come, I think we should let them go. They said they already have been under another crew. Wouldn't it be cruel to force them to be under us?" the first mate asked. Whitebeard looked pondering.

"I still want them," he said simply.

Marco threw down a paper, and Luffy saw it was from many years ago. "We might not even want them. Remember news of the Dressrosa massacre a couple years ago? They were part of it, on that crew. It goes against what we are. I really think we should rethink this."

Luffy was glad at what he was hearing. "Pops, I usually go along with your choices, but I can't agree with this one. I just can't. I really think it's a bad idea," the first mate said sincerely.

Whitebeard frowned deeply and sighed. "Fine. I still want to meet them, even if they won't join us." Marco told him that the four of them could do immense damage to the ship. "You're overestimating them, Marco." Luffy bristled at this, and Marco disagreed.

"Pops, your fruit is in the hands of a child. My fruit is also in someone else's hands. If the little one goes out of control, it will do damage." Luffy grinned at the words. Even someone on a yonko saw them as threatening. He was proud of how badass they were. But hopefully the Dressrosa situation wouldn't put off any future crew members.

"I will think about this. I will not force them to join our crew, but I'd still like to meet them." Marco sighed, giving up. Then he noticed the ear on the wall, and Luffy saw as he inspected it. He bloomed a mouth. Luffy asked his brothers if he was allowed to _make_ them stay away. They said he could.

He bloomed a mouth on the wall of their ship. "If you don't leave us alone, you'll regret it. Do you agree to leave us alone?" the mouth asked simply.

"Oh? Are you threatening to kill us, boy?" Whitebeard asked in amusement. Luffy grinned and so did his second mouth.

"No, worse. Well, for some people, it's worse," Luffy's mouth said. Marco chuckled, like he didn't believe Luffy. Now, he wouldn't do it _permanently,_ just to get the message across that they play dirty and aren't afraid to admit it. He suddenly shot out his arm with his rubber powers, haki covered fingers with the very tips into pointy ends. He thrust it into Marco's side, bypassing his power with haki. His arm snapped back into place as Marco screamed while his body changed into a curvy woman's. The two in the room were shocked. Luffy's mouth said, "We aren't afraid to play dirty if our freedom is in jeopardy."

Marco was totally freaking out, voice higher and panicked. Whitebeard was furious, and Luffy waved his sharpened fingers in the captain's direction. Marco shouted for him to change him back. But he was interrupted when another man walked in with a tray of water. He stopped and froze, dropping the glasses of water.

Then he started to laugh hysterically. "Marco's a lady!" Marco ran to the hand, but Luffy made that one disappear, but formed another one on the opposite wall and did what he'd just done, changing Marco back into a man, who was breathing heavily, furious while the other man continued to laugh.

"Now, will you agree to leave us alone? We won't join your crew, and you can't force us," Luffy's mouth said. Marco went to punch it, but Luffy got rid of it and formed it on the ceiling. "Answer. Do you agree? I won't stop turning everyone on your ship into women if you don't agree. Or maybe I'll turn every object you have into food. I have many options."

"Fine, little brat. We won't come after you," Whitebeard said in a grumpy voice.

"I will be watching you, and will know if you aren't telling the truth. But, we won't bother any of your protected islands. I swear on that." Marco was still absolutely furious. "And Marco looked better as a woman than my brothers did!" His mouth laughed and disappeared, and his arm waved goodbye before disappearing.

He continued to watch, seeing Marco attack the other man, who was still roaring with laughter, though Luffy couldn't hear it. Then the captain started laughing and Marco erupted into blue flames.

The youngest opened his eyes and started laughing hysterically, explaining what he'd done, and his brothers and Law started laughing loudly as well. "That was so fun!" Luffy exclaimed. "I challenged a yonko and won! I guess they really are afraid of being turned into women," he added.

"Of course they are. We all know how it feels, you little shit doing to all of us. It sucks. But man, you turned Marco Phoenix into a woman and made Whitebeard back down. I'm so proud of you, Lu!" Sabo said, pulling Luffy into a tight hug while the happy teen laughed.

Law was giving Luffy a very, _very_ fond look, like he was the sun. When he noticed Sabo watching over Luffy's shoulder, he looked away with a red face. Sabo chuckled, thinking a flustered Law was adorable and hilarious at the same time.

While their ship was being coated, they once again retired to the mirror world. It was much nicer sleeping in their bedrooms since it was dark and the beds were comfortable and warm. So they slept on mochi beds, and ate food Luffy had made out of rocks they'd collected.

Luffy checked on the Whitebeards' progress after breakfast, flopping himslef down on Law's bed since it was warmer, clueless. Law balled his hands to not touch Luffy, face red and sweaty. He closed his eyes, less aware of his surroundings where his body was, and he searched for the massive ship. It was closer to Fishman Island. It could be a coincidence, but Luffy doubted that. Unless they wanted to go to Paradise, they had no reason to approach the Red Line.

Luffy found a busy hallway and a bloomed and invisible hand. Anyone who walked past turned into toddlers, and began crying, their clothes bunched around them. People start freaking out about the babies. "Why are there babies here?!" a black haired man shouted.

Luffy had bloomed a tiny ear behind a lamp on the wall. He made more invisible hands in the hallway, patting more and more people. But many of the higher ups of the crew had haki, and noticed the hand's presence. He made it visible to freak everyone out. The mouth bloomed where they couldn't see it.

"It looks like you are still planning on coming to Fishman Island. I thought I made it clear we didn't want that. Or do you all want to be women?" Pirates screeched and ran down the halls. He wordlessly released his negative ghosts that flew down the halls and through everyone's bodies, making them collapse to the ground like the baby pirates, who were still crying. Some of the commanders, as Sabo described them, arrived. One pirate attempted to chop his hand off, but he converted it from rubber to mochi in a second, and the sword went right through it. The hand turned superheated and grabbed one of his swords tightly, melting it until it was dripping, melted metal.

A gun was shot at it, but the bullets bounced off, reverting his hand back to rubber. "Is it fucking invincible?!" someone shouted. Marco appeared there, looking furious at the hand.

"Marco, I thought I made myself clear! I thought a yonko crew would actually keep their word, but I guess I was wrong. You're _all_ controlling assholes. I'm disappointed," he said in a stern voice.

"Shut up! Pops isn't an asshole!" a pirate who had recovered from the negative ghosts said. "C'mon, Marco, why would we want someone like this on our crew?! He's a prick, just give up on him!" He sounded begging.

The one from the day before with the big hair protested, "No! Look at how good of a prankster he'd be!" he shouted. Luffy sent a negative ghost at him.

Marco looked unhappy, but said, "Pops really wants you. I don't know why, but we have to follow orders!"

"So, I have to go after your captain instead?" Luffy asked simply. The pirates' gazes turned murderous in a moment. "This would all be much faster if I came, wouldn't it?" Luffy's mouth asked. It was taxing for Luffy to form just a couple hands there, a clone would barely last. And his clones couldn't use the powers. They could appear like they were, but they fizzled out immediately. But he knew how to scare these pirates away, how to make them know just how serious he was about staying free.

Luffy didn't wait for anyone to say anything and his clone popped into the hallway. "Do I need to show how serious I am?" he asked with crossed arms. Some shouted about how a kid was doing this to them. He made two fists, and cracked the air behind him.

"No!" pirates started shouting. "No, don't do it!" But the cracks fizzled out quickly. He bluntly said he couldn't use devil fruits in a clone form. So they were all scared for nothing. Then a hand shot out when no one was expecting it and slapped Marco's face.

Luffy smiled, his clone having been a good distraction. "Well, now I can turn into you whenever I want. You know, I've been thinking about something. How I can ruin reputations. How do you think the world would react to a photo of Marco in a tutu? Or a woman's swimming suit? Would be pretty funny, wouldn't it?" He was purposely being an asshole now, really wanting these people to give up on them.

He wouldn't start a war by humiliating Marco. That would be a bad idea. He can take back what he'd done to the baby pirates, but a photo was forever. Especially if it circulated. "You wouldn't _dare,"_ Marco snarled.

"I won't do it if you leave us alone," he said simply. The clone was starting to weaken. "We don't want to join you, what don't you understand about that? We've already been used for our powers for over a decade. We won't be doing it again." His voice was hard now, and serious. No more teasing. "We'll do anything to stay free, even if that means starting a war with a yonko. I'm not going to say please, but don't try to find us. Our pirate crew's name used the word 'freedom' for a reason." And the clone popped away, leaving only the hand, ear and mouth in their hidden places.

The pirates looked sad, guilty even. Good. They wouldn't come after them. The big haired man pouted, and then looked at the crying babies. "What do we do with them?" he asked with a sigh. Luffy's hand was still on the wall and it waved around.

"I swear we will not come after you. I'm sorry, we don't want to trap you. We don't want to meet you just because of your powers. But we won't. Even if Pops wants it, we won't. Please, turn them back to normal." The hallway was somber, and Luffy thought he really got to them. Good. He waved the hand around again, not saying anything.

The normal pirates carried the ten babies to the hand, where they popped back to normal. The hand disappeared, as well as the things hidden on the wall.

He opened his eyes, looking satisfied. "I don't think they'll be coming after us anymore." He explained what he did, and their reactions. He then grinned and then turned into Marco. He turned back quickly, though.

The other three relaxed, thinking they were safe based on how he described the pirates' reactions. Disappointed and guilty. Even the ones he'd messed with had worn guilty looks, losing their anger at Luffy for what an asshole he was being. Whitebeard better get a clue and stop insisting to meet them.

They left to explore again, and went to buy some clothes from the expensive store. They didn't need any more, but they wanted to. Luffy, like the last time they went shopping, dressed up as a man and woman. The other three were quite used to it. Even seeing bare breasts, it didn't faze them at all. It was always funny seeing other peoples' reactions, though.

After they had stuffed the bags of clothes into Luffy's pocket that didn't have money, they headed out to a more deserted place to explore. When they were out climbing the rocks and reefs to try and get a good view of the island from above, they all sensed some people -fishmen- coming near. They didn't turn around, not needing to know where they were. If they were in the middle of nowhere, approaching them, then they clearly had ill intent.

But they were busy, even if Law was starting to inch his hand to his sword and discreetly move slightly behind Luffy. Sabo noticed, but said nothing. Even if Luffy didn't need protection, Law would do it easily.

Though, the dark skinned pirate still didn't turn around. The people just stood there. "Go away. We're busy," Ace said bluntly. Luffy sat down, relaxed, on the coral, looking out at the mermaid cove, wishing he could swim. But he didn't remember ever swimming in his life, so he had nothing to miss. He just wished he was able to have that experience.

"Oi, little shits. Heard you guys are quite powerful. Why don't you join us?"

Ace, ever the one with attitude, laughed, "We're way out of your league, fishmen fodder." Luffy giggled and Ace shot a smile at him. "It's our turn, this time, Lu. You had plenty of fun terrorizing the Whitebeards. Let us have some fun." Luffy pouted, but nodded.

Then he asked, "When they're knocked out, can I turn them into women or babies?" Ace ruffled his hair and told him he could. The older three trusted Luffy to not use his powers on them anymore. He had a deal with Law, still, that they could use their powers on one another, but Luffy wasn't cruel to his close brothers and best friend to turn them into women or babies anymore.

He turned around when one of them shot a gun, but they used haki and moved to the side ever so slightly to dodge it. Ace and Sabo turned around and started to go. "I'll be fine, Law. Go have fun," Luffy said kindly. Law nodded and walked after his peers. Luffy watched while swinging his legs back and forth.

"The fuck did you call us?!" one of them shouted. They all looked very different. Even more different than those on their old crew were. Ace repeated what he'd said. When they attacked, Law made a room and rose them all up in the air, where Sabo picked them off in bird form and Ace electrocuted them when Sabo wasn't in reach.

Not all of them died, but many of them did. Luffy used haki to tell that no one was around. "Hey! won't the fishmen people be mad about this?" he called. The enemies were on the ground, dead or moaning in pain with burns or vicious gashes from Sabo's beak. All three of them were standing over the bodies, and Ace might have kicked one or two.

Sabo said, "That's true. Should we dispose of the bodies?"

They looked at one another, and the living pirates started begging for them to not do so. It was a pitiful sight, and they should have been humiliated. Ace turned into fire. "No one will care if we're injured! We're outlaws, please don't do it!" It was the original one who'd been the first to talk and demand they join their pitiful crew.

"How do we know you don't have others who will try to avenge you? If you all just disappeared, no one would know what happened, right? So it's in our better interest to make it seem like this fight never happened. Don't you think so, too?" Ace questioned. He was tapping his booted foot impatiently.

The fishman pirate had tears streaming down his face. How embarrassing. But, it wasn't like the four of them never cried. They just never had begged, ever, in their lives like this. "But that's no fun! Remember, I was going to get them to turn into women!" Luffy exclaimed, jumping off of the coral and running over.

Law nodded. They had agreed on that. Ace and Sabo replied, "you could turn them into women and then we burn them." Luffy didn't like that, but he agreed that it was best to make it so this fight never happened. Their ship was coated already, this was the last place they were going to go and then head back to their ship. Besides, they could take anyone who went after them.

The fishmen who were still alive began to crawl away, wanting to live. But, does anyone really want to die by fire? So they didn't blame them. Luffy went to those alive and turned them into women, where they couldn't help but freak out, even if they were trying to get away for their lives. It wasn't too satisfying for Luffy, but they had to do what they had to do.

The enemies were very distracted. They couldn't have them screaming, though, so Luffy silenced the entire area. No one could hear the screams but them. Ace kept his flames low to the ground as he disposed of the bodies, leaving nothing as a breeze somehow flew the askes away. And they had checked with haki that no one was watching outside of the bubble. No one knew, and they left the scene without feeling a trace of guilt.

That's just what happens when you're raised by sinister pirates with no conscience. They got away with it completely, nobody knew, and they happily got the ship out of the bubble again and headed up to their favorite sea, the one that always kept them busy, the New World.


	11. Memories and New Nakama

**Sixcupsofcoffeetogo: Thank you!**

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They easily navigated the sea, popping out of the water with a splash, the bubble popping loudly again. Luffy cheered about being back in the fun sea, and they took up the challenge of dealing with New World weather, running about the ship to furl the sails and bolt things down. The weather in Paradise was worse than the Blues, but nowhere close to the second half of the Grand Line.

Rookie pirates usually died just from the weather, let alone the other strong pirates, marines, and more volatile sea kings. If they could have, they would have had the ship coated with haki underneath, but Water 7 didn't have that much sea stone, so it was out of the question. Once they knew they had the weather under control, Luffy released the chains made from candy so they could run inside.

Mochi was weakened in moist air and water, so he couldn't use those as rope anywhere wet. Especially not rain. They all headed to the galley to eat. Luffy took out the food and put it where it belongs, having restocked completely with all sorts of food that would last a while. Ace froze the meat in a small box made of ice so it didn't go bad quickly.

The ship tossed and turned, but they were used to it so they didn't fall. Plus, they'd bolted the chairs to the floor before they reached the New World. When it was night time, Law was on watch, and the others went to bed.

Though Luffy woke up in the middle of the night and found he wasn't tired anymore. Waking up makes him not tired, even if it was early in the morning. He was still wearing his pajamas, black loose pants and a tank top. He headed outside to see Law was in the crowsnest, looking exhausted.

Luffy climbed the ratlines and popped his head over the side. "Hi, Luffy-ya. What are you doing up so late?" he asked, voice exhausted. Luffy shrugged and commented that he looked tired. "I am."

"Maybe I could sense you were tired," Luffy said, and sat down on the bench in the niely sized crowsnest. "See anything interesting?" he asked, sounding much, much more energetic than Law.

He yawned, and said, "Not really. A couple sea kings got in a tiff far from the ship, but never came over here." Luffy smiled and offered to take the rest of his shift before he switched with Ace. "I'll sleep out here."

"Why?" Luffy wondered. If Law was so tired, why would he want to sleep in the uncomfortable crowsnest and not his nice bed? Law blushed a bit, but sighed and told the truth.

"You know, even before I liked you more than a friend, I missed sleeping in the same room as you after arriving at Dressrosa. You were always so entertaining when you'd fall off the bed and still stay asleep. Or when you babbled in your sleep or turned into a blob of mochi. You were entertaining when I was trying to go to bed, before you were able to inject me with melatonin. You're like the sun Luffy-ya. I don't want to sound cheesy or make you feel uncomfortable, but that's just how I feel.

"Even long ago, you were too bright for me to be your friend. But you never gave up on me. And I'm so happy that you didn't," Law said with a smile. Luffy blushed and smiled back. It made him warm that Law would say something so nice and sincere like that. He needed to clear something up, though.

"That didn't make me uncomfortable. Nothing you do or say makes me uncomfortable. I know you'd never do anything to make me feel that way. And I was always happy to be your friend, even when you didn't consider me one. In the beginning it might have been sympathy or pity, I don't know. But you were nice sometimes, and I always liked that so I wanted to make you happy as much as possible. I like you happy a lot. And your smile is bright, too, like mine. If I'm the sun, you're my star. Always trying to be bright even when you feel sad," Luffy replied.

Law lowered his hat over his eyes, blushing furiously. "You shouldn't say stuff like that, Luffy-ya." Luffy cocked his head and asked why. "... Makes me like you more. I don't see a ceiling for how I feel. I try to pin it down sometimes, and be your best friend. It's just hard sometimes."

"Why? I thought the feelings were nice," Luffy said with furrowed brows.

"They are, most of the time. I just wish you felt the same, sometimes. Sometimes I wish I could go back to how I was, but I don't think I ever will. It's like everything you do makes me like you more. It hurts, y'know?" Law confessed, now hiding his face in his arms, propped up by his knees.

Luffy felt guilt. He wished he loved Law like he did. He wanted Law to be happy. He just still didn't know. "What does love feel like?" he asked quietly.

Law didn't answer for a moment, and Luffy thought he wasn't going to. "Physically, it makes my heart hammer, feel warm in my chest, smile more, even if they're small smiles. Makes me want to hug you, or hold your hand.

"Emotionally, I sorta described it already. You're the sun. You light up my life. I sound so cheesy, but it's how I feel. You're smiles, when they're directed at me, make my heart flutter. I know that it's not my _heart_ feeling that, but people say that so I'll say it, too." Luffy chuckled, and Law did as well.

It wasn't an uncomfortable atmosphere, when Law was telling Luffy this stuff. Luffy never reacted badly, he wasn't disgusted or insulted or uncomfortable with Law's feelings, not at all. He hoped Law didn't think he was. But he told him these things, so maybe he trusted Luffy not to laugh at him, or cringe at his words. He could never cringe at Law's words. Or anything he does.

Suddenly, Luffy had a splitting headache, and bent over, holding his head. "Luffy-ya, what's wrong?"

"Sudden headache," he said simply, closing his eyes even if it wasn't bright outside. Suddenly he was Law begging for him not to do something. What? Then he saw Doflamingo in front of him, and Luffy was yelling at Law that he wouldn't let him die. He turned back to Doflamingo and remembered terrible pain all over his body.

He remembered everything going dark and seeing Law trapped on the floor, tears down his face. After that, it was dark and then he somehow saw Law from above, he was sobbing and holding Luffy's body, rocking back and forth, begging for him to come back, not leave him alone. Tears came from his eyes as he saw that, so how devastated Law was, and that was before he said he realized he had those feelings for Luffy. Law was asking him if he was alright, and once the flashback was over, Luffy hugged Law and started to sob.

"What happened?!" Law freaked out, though he was holding Luffy back, so much shorter and skinnier than him. Luffy, through his tears, explained that he remembered what happened that day, when he sacrificed himself for Law. Law tensed, and started to shake, too, not wanting to relive that.

His tears were silent, though. "It was so horrible. It felt like I was being torn apart," he said quietly through the tears that didn't reach his voice, which was steady and strong. "I've probably loved you for a long time, Luffy-ya, and just didn't know it. I was asymptomatic, I guess."

Luffy pulled back and Law kissed his forehead. "You're so important to me. I never want to lose you again." Luffy put his head down again, resting his head against Law's chest. He was wearing a jacket since it was cold outside.

Even though Law was the tired one, Luffy fell asleep again first. When he next woke up, he was tucked in his bed, wondering if the night before actually happened or it was a dream. But then he felt the dried tears on his eyelashes. He turned on his side, trying to think. Did people who didn't love someone act like that?

Well, he loved Law as a best friend. He remembered what Law said about him being a sun, and Luffy saying he was a star. Was he making Law feel bad? Was he teasing him? He didn't want to, he truly felt that way. He loved his brothers dearly, but loving Law in a different way. He was family, too. Always had been. Was that love not a best friend, love? After all, he was very close to Baby 5 before. But he had never called her his best friend. That spot was _always_ Law.

He felt his face grow hot, and didn't like it. It felt weird, with his face how but the rest of his body not. Maybe he was sick. He got out of bed, sitting and looking at the floor for a bit before laying back down, on the blankets this time, staring at the wall, trying to figure everything out.

Luffy wished he could ask Ace or Sabo if they knew what romantic love felt like, but they'd never been interested in anybody. It was only Law who could tell him, and he had. In such a nice and pretty way. And he'd tucked him in last night.

Luffy left his room to go take a shower, and came across Law in the hallway. He looked tired as well. Maybe he had trouble sleeping and Luffy couldn't help him since he'd been asleep right after going up to keep him company.

The younger looked at Law, who smiled at him, and Luffy felt his face grow hot. "I think I have a fever," Luffy said simply. That wasn't the only time that day that he'd something like that. During lunch, he'd said he thought he needed a check up cause his heart kept beating really hard. Then he said he needed a nap because he couldn't stop being distracted while doing things. Then he came out of his room when the nap didn't happen because he couldn't stop thinking.

To say his brothers were amused was an understatement. They kept glancing at Law, who looked truly sad. Sabo could understand. He didn't want to get his hopes up only to have them come crashing down. He would know better than anyone how Luffy was feeling. Sabo hoped it would work out. Hoped to make them both happy, like he thought they'd be.

Luffy took Ace and Sabo aside and into Ace's room to ask them, "I feel weird about Law."

Sabo kept a straight serious face, and asked, "Did something happen?" Luffy's face turned red and he scowled slapping his cheeks hard, though they just left redder spots on them.

But he nodded. "We were in the crowsnest last night. He told me he loved me lots and called me his sun. I called him a star," he explained. Sabo asked if it had changed after that conversation, and the younger nodded.

"Do you feel what he described?" Ace questioned calmly, though he thought Luffy was so adorable and absolutely clueless. Even when the answer was so obvious and right in front of him he still needed help figuring it out. The 15 year old nodded.

"Do you know what Law feels when he experienced what he described?" Sabo asked patiently.

"He said love," Luffy said bluntly, still not understanding. Sabo asked if he returned those "symptoms". Luffy nodded, and Sabo gave him a look, raising his eyebrows. Luffy blinked twice before his lips pressed tightly together and his eyes widened. Ace laughed.

Sabo finally asked, "Do you love him? Do you still feel the same as before?" Luffy hid his face and looked down. "Do you know _why_ you love him?" Sabo really wanted Luffy to understand his own feelings. He wasn't exactly experienced in romance, but was a hell of a lot more aware of how it worked than clueless Luffy.

He spoke, words slightly muffled by his hands, but not enough that they couldn't understand him. "He's really nice and cool and always wants to protect me and helps us and says kind things and treats me really good and is honest all the time and never lies except that one time and cried because I died and kissed my forehead and cheek and he's funny with me and laughs at what I say sometimes and fights with me really well and I really liked him already and… yeah," Luffy explained, the longest run-on sentence either of his brothers had ever heard.

"Do you want to go see him and tell him? I'm sure he'd be very happy to hear it. I think you will both make each other very happy. You already do, right?" Luffy nodded, and ran off. Sabo and Ace followed closely, grinning at each other as they waited outside the door. Law was on the couch in the lounge.

"Law, I think I love you," Luffy said, getting straight to the point. Law's eyes widened and his face turned red. He asked if he meant it, and Luffy repeated his run on sentence, only the words in a slightly different order. Law went up to him and hugged him tightly, Luffy hugging him back. "What do we do?" Luffy asked after they separated. Law smiled and took his hands.

"How about we hold hands for now?" he suggested. Sabo and Ace were grateful he seemed like he was going to ease into the romance. Holding hands was the first step, and Law was patient with Luffy.

Luffy initiated the hand holding all day, much more often than Law did, and he was very happy. Law's hands were big, and his were smaller. He was seven inches shorter than Law was, which was why he was good at giving piggyback rides. So Law towered over him most of the time. They held hands at the table, Law opting to eat with his left hand so they could continue the contact.

Sabo and Ace did not need to give the "big brother talk" to Law. They trusted him with anything and everything. He had always been there for Luffy and they knew that definitely wasn't going to change.

They stopped at the first island that they chose to go to, a different route from the original one with the Donquixote pirates. There had been nothing in the news about Doflamingo on the hunt, which was reassuring. Hopefully, he would have let the issue go due to Luffy making him forever young. But, they weren't sure about that. They'd messed up his life in Dressrosa after all. Not that he didn't deserve it.

The island was, surprisingly, an island with a marine base. A small one, but one nonetheless. It was nice it wasn't a Whitebeard island, though Luffy had seen, in his mind, their ship heading in the opposite direction. They were glad the yonko crew had caught on and not gone after them anymore.

The four docked the ship at the docks, a safe bet one, and locked the door into the ship once again. No one would be getting inside. Now, it was time to look for crew members. They needed strong ones. They couldn't afford to have to train someone to use haki. That took too long. It took them years to learn it, after all.

The two older brothers went into a bar while Law and Luffy went to the largest coffee shop in the town. They were each probing for any strong people residing on the island. Who weren't already thugs or pirates. There was talk of a powerful swordsman who had been locked up and was being starved because he punched a noble in the face for swiping expensive sake he'd paid for away from him. Luffy just laughed about that, and Law smiled at him brightly, his cheek resting in a hand. Luffy didn't notice it, the absolute joy on Law's face.

"And he's strong?" Law asked. The waitress nodded.

"He's a good man. At least, to the citizens he is. He's cut up multiple pirate ships before he was finally caught," she said. The two downed their drinks and paid her before going to the bar to fetch Ace and Sabo, who hadn't had any luck, since everyone in the bar was an asshole and demanded they pay them for information.

Usually, they'd hurt anyone so disrespectful, but they weren't there to cause a scene. When they saw Law walk in and gesture for them to leave, they left the bar, apparently not having ordered anything. "Find anything?"

"Yeah, but we'll have to break into a marine base to get 'em," Law said, sounding serious despite the smile he was hiding, fingers intertwined with Luffy's. Sabo said, "Shouldn't be too hard. Details?"

Luffy told him that he was a swordsman, skilled, and he got chained to a post outside for punching a noble for taking his sake. Ace laughed at that. Sounded like this guy was interesting. Though he'd have to get used to Luffy's grabby hands. They hoped he wouldn't be put off by their past. But they'd get everything out in the open before he joined, if he did.

The four walked up the steep hill, not wanting to use Law's ability yet. And they didn't want Sabo revealing himself with a zoan power yet either. They wanted to gauge just how strong this marine base was. Hopefully it gave a good fight. Luffy enjoyed fighting with Law the most. Their attacks worked well together. They'd been fighting together and against each other for a long time.

They arrived at the gate, which was tall and made of thick metal poles. Luffy turned his hands into scissors, which he didn't use much, and cut out a space for them to walk through easily. They wandered around outside until they sensed someone stationary. They would speak to him before releasing him.

The four of them arrived in front of him. He looked exhausted and starving. He opened his eyes and glared at them. "Who the fuck are you?" he growled, though he was very weak, as he'd been there for over three weeks.

Luffy picked up a rock and changed it into a piece of bread. He put it to the man's mouth, who had a scar over his left eye. He ate it greedily, starving. Ace tilted his head back and dripped water into his mouth with his new power. Then he poured it on the man's face and neck since this island was a summer one, so it was hot.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously, though he was clearly thankful for the food and water.

"Just a start up pirate crew looking for new members. It's just the four of us right now. We're looking for strong people. You strong?" Ace asked. Law was looking him up and down warily. They could tell he was strong, and not a devil fruit user, so he could fish them out of the sea if they fell in.

"I'm Zoro. I'm thankful for the food and water, but I'm not looking to join a pirate crew. Especially not a new one," Zoro said. Luffy walked behind him and saw the cuffs were seastone. He could get them off easily.

Law replied, "Well, we're not rookies. We defected from our previous crew and are forming our own. I can assure you we are not weak." Zoro asked which crew, "Our captain used to be Doflamingo. We were raised on his ship. We're not weak." Zoro's eyes widened then narrowed.

He said, "I heard those on your crew are vicious murderers." None of them disputed it, but Sabo said, "We're not that way to friends or family. If someone crosses us, we'll retaliate against them. Don't most pirates do that?"

Zoro grudgingly agreed. "Do you want us to free you?" Ace asked. "If we do, you have to join our crew," he said with a smug grin. Zoro glared at him, and then said they'd need the key. "No we won't. Lu can get you unlocked. Do you agree to work with us? It'll be fun and you'll definitely make a name for yourself. We're going to cause chaos now that we're free."

The green haired man glared at them before grinning. "You're devils. Well, I don't want to die or be strung up here like a fool anymore. If you're weak, I'll leave or take the title of captain myself."

Sabo said, "Oh, don't worry. We aren't weak. Would you like to see Luffy's most powerful devil fruit in action?" Luffy created a wax key and the cuffs and chains fell to the ground. Zoro looked surprised and Luffy held up the wax key.

Zoro nodded to Sabo's question, stretching and popping his neck. "Wait, he's used multiple powers. What is his fruit?" Luffy grinned.

"I have the all-all fruit for paramecia. Sabo's is for zoan, and Ace's is for logias. Law has the ope-ope fruit, which is really strong, too." Zoro looked shocked, but had clearly heard of the all-all fruits. Luffy crossed his fingers with one hand, putting up a barrier that was both vertical and horizontal as they were standing on top of and behind it.

He wanted to prove to Zoro that he wasn't weak. "Wait! My swords are in there. Don't destroy the building." Luffy pouted, wanting to destroy it. "I'll go get them." Law stopped him, putting his hand up.

He said, "You want us to prove to you we're strong? Let us do it." Zoro looked skeptical before he grudgingly nodded. "Where are they?" Law asked calmly as Luffy latched onto his back. Zoro looked at it a bit strangely before moving on quickly. He told them most likely in the captains' quarters.

The four set off, and Luffy made him another piece of bread since he still had to be hungry. They all had great teamwork, so they didn't need to say a thing before Ace hit the ground outside with lightning to get their attention as Sabo flew up to the roof with Luffy on his back. Law stayed close to Ace, whose arms were crackling with white lightning.

Someone came out to check on what happened before Ace shot forth a bolt of lightning to the guy's chest, obviously killing him without really even trying. Marines started to pour out. No one knew who they were since their posters were from so long ago, when they were younger, Luffy only ten. Plus, their new wanted posters were in Paradise, cut off from the New World mostly.

Ace corralled them into a crowd with fire licking at them on every side. They were inside the room's range. "Room!" Law said, pulling out his sword and slashing the air, where everyone was cut into different pieces. They all knew this was by far his favorite attack. Luffy thought it was funny, too. More and more people ran out from the entrance, having guns and swords. They were cut the moment they entered the room. He had to let it go, and Ace picked off the rest, sending lances of ice through their bodies.

They all knew they were being reckless by attacking a marine base so close to the red line, but the ships would still need to be raised over the side if anyone of any strength came. Namely, admirals or vice admirals, who they'd manage to avoid so far. Smoker was supposedly a captain, but incredibly weak.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Sabo had found the swords, three of them, and Luffy put them in a pocket. They came across the captain in what seemed to be his office. Luffy stuck him to the wall with mochi while they raided the treasure room adjacent to the office. He was shouting angrily. "Be patient, we'll be with you in a moment," Sabo said. The captain's face went bright red in anger.

The shoveled the treasure into a bag and then to Luffy before returning to the captain. "Sabo, you got to have the fun last time at Fishman Island, my turn!" Sabo patted his head and gave him an okay, even though he'd do it regardless. He thought for a moment, picking what he wanted to us. He made a barrier and pushed it so hard against the captain that he couldn't breathe, before releasing it. He was gasping out air.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Luffy said as poison gas came from his mouth, entering the guy's lungs and burning him from the inside. They really were sadistic. Well, it was to be expected. Maybe if they were raised by other people they'd be different. But they were so used to being like that from a young age they might not be able to change it.

"Oh! I know what I should do!" He grinned and walked to the man before swiping his soul out, so his body turned white. Luffy then stuck the soul into the nearby desk. It came to life, but of course didn't remember who or what it used to be. "Hello, ," he said, crouching down. "You're going to go away soon, so enjoy your last moments."

Souls who were freshly put in anything other than their own body had a period of shock where they were unable to respond. At least, that's how Luffy's version of the fruit went. Sabo jumped out of the window with Luffy on his back, flying down to the ground where burnt and cut up soldiers were everywhere.

Zoro was watching from the sidelines in shock, jaw open and eyes wide. Luffy giggled at the expression. It looked like he really had thought they were weak. Hopefully he'd seen he was wrong. But, they forgot to do something important. See how he was at sword fighting or he knew haki.

Luffy jumped off of Sabo, and the other two walked a distance away. Luffy put up the barrier again, and formed a fist before cracking the air and throwing forth a quake that destroyed the marine base. Any marine ships at their port were crushed, as well. He rubbed his sore arm, and walked back to his family and new partner.

When he got back to Zoro, he pulled the three swords out of his left pocket. "We didn't know which ones were yours, so I took all three."

"I use three-sword style," he said, and smiled as he put it into his sash. He must have been burning up in that long sleeved kimono. Law drew his sword and suddenly attacked Zoro viciously. He deflected with one of his swords, unsheathing it in an instant. "What the hell!" he shouted as Law made another thrust downwards.

"It's not like we'll be taking a weak swordsman with us. Prove yourself," Law said with a smirk. The brothers watched from behind as Law ruthlessly attacked before Zoro finally started fighting back. He seemed to know observation and armament haki. He had three swords, and Law shambled him to throw him off and then attacked, seeing how quickly he reacted to a change in situation.

Zoro put the third sword in his mouth, which Luffy thought was cool. But Law was cooler, grinning with the grin he only reserved for a good fight. When Luffy and Law fought, it was mostly lighthearted and Luffy trying to annoy him as best as possible.

They fought until Zoro and Law both got tired. Law sheathed his sword first, then put it against his shoulder. "I think you pass. We should head back to the ship," he said simply, and Zoro followed, looking wary. "Don't worry, we don't harm each other seriously. And you're part of our crew now, none of us will kill you."

Luffy jumped on Law's back, and Zoro asked how old they all were. Luffy was fifteen, Law had turned 18 without them really noticing, and Ace and Sabo were both 18. Zoro was 19. He said, "Law looks a lot older than 18."

Luffy said, "And I look younger than 15. I can make myself older, but I don't like doing that."

Zoro's looked a bit confused, and Luffy laughed. He observed the way Luffy and Law were acting, the smiles they were giving each other and Luffy resting his jaw on Law's neck. "Are you and Luffy together?" Luffy nodded. Zoro looked almost put off by it.

Sabo asked, "Got a problem with that?" in a sharp voice. Zoro put his hands up.

"It's nothing like that, I don't care, really. It's just that Law looks like he's in his twenties and Luffy a young teen," he said quickly.

Ace said, "We all grew up together. They were best friends for years and only recently were more. Luffy saved Law from an incurable disease and then sacrificed his life to save him. That brings people closer together, doesn't it?" Zoro asked, hesitantly, for the whole story. So, as they walked back to the port, Luffy explained everything. How Law had had amber lead disease and Luffy helped get him the ope-ope fruit which healed him. Then briefly about their defection and the cause from Dressrosa. He didn't seem put off, thankfully. Hopefully he'd fit in well.


	12. Pleasant Days

**Kuro_hime46: Thanks! I don't think age matters in one piece. Almost everybody on the strawhat crew is older than their captain. But yeah, it's easier having them be powerful and make sense if they're from the time skip**

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"So, you have all been through a lot together, then," Zoro said.

"That about sums it up," Law replied. When they got back to the ship, Luffy was shambled inside to undo the locks and open the door up. Zoro apparently had never been a pirate, so they taught him about how the ship functions, and he caught on quickly as they sailed away from the island that now had one half of it destroyed. It had shaken the rest of the island, but was not harmed too much. It was fixable.

"Where do I sleep?" Zoro questioned.

"You can choose whichever room you want that isn't one of ours," Luffy said, leading him through the first floor of the ship. Zoro was happy he got his own room, as he was smiling. Luffy began to walk backwards to talk to Zoro. "Everything is really nicely furnished, so your bed is really nice! We had the ship made custom. The rooms are on the smaller side, but they're still really good.

"So were you born in the New World?" Luffy asked, changing the subject. Zoro nodded his head. He'd never been out of the New World. When he asked where they had come from, Luffy replied, "We came from the North Blue. We sailed with Doflamingo through Paradise and then the New World. Once we defected, we went back to Paradise through the mirror world. Everyone is so weak there! It was _awful."_

When the newby asked about the mirror world, Luffy led him to the nearest room, as every room in the ship had a mirror big enough for them to walk through. Luffy entered the mirror smoothly and held a hand out for Zoro to come in, too. "Every mirror in the world is in here. I can enter and exit every mirror. It's really handy, especially when we have no place to stay and can travel to different parts of the world."

Zoro was amazed, and then they left. Zoro asked to see more of his powers, which Luffy was more than happy to do. They went out on deck, where Law was napping against the cabin wall. Luffy showed Zoro every power that was safe to use on the ship. He left ones out that harmed someone else.

Sabo and Ace were inside, so Luffy and Zoro were alone, sans the sleeping Law. Luffy sat down on the deck with Zoro, and said, "Sorry if you ever feel left out. It'll be weird being around someone who we haven't known for a decade. We won't mean to leave you out, promise."

"I understand, don't worry. I'm not really a big talker in the first place. I need to warn you that I nap a lot," the newby said honestly. Luffy laughed, and said that was fine as long as he helped out when it was needed. "So where are we going now?"

"The next island to search for new crew members! We can't only have _five._ That'd be boring. Ace and Sabo are the co-captains, while Law and I are sorta the co-first mates. We gotta get a cook, soon," Luffy added.

Zoro pointed out that he could make any sort of food. "Yeah, but it doesn't mean I can cook. I can make basic food, but real chefs can make their own meals, change them to be super tasty. My power is good for ingredients, but I need things to change. Guess what? I went onto Whitebeard's ship by accident and stole trash from them.

"Then they wanted to come and take us! So I sorta messed with them _a lot."_ He recounted his pranking and over all assholeness to the pirates and how he got them to leave them be. "It was so fun! I turned Marco into a woman and his friend laughed at it. And I turned a bunch of them into babies." Zoro started laughing, and Law woke up, watching Luffy making a new friend.

Zoro questioned, "So, how do you turn people into the opposite sex?"

Law chuckled. "You really will wish you didn't ask that question." And Luffy stuck him with the hormone. Zoro freaked out as his broad torso changed. But before he could _really_ freak out, Luffy changed him back. Zoro shouted that he promised he wouldn't do that. Luffy laughed, and Law said, "Welcome to the crew. I guess that can be our initiation or something."

Zoro punched Luffy hard, but it didn't hurt and he just laughed. Law laughed, too. Zoro was red in the face. "Promise I won't ever do that to you again. I always keep my promises." Luffy was so earnest and so Zoro lost his hateful expression. Luffy got up and walked over to Law, sitting down next to him. He didn't sit in Law's lap or anything. They were taking it slow, mostly for Luffy's sake, though no one had told him that.

Besides, they had lots of time. There was no rush. Well, you may not have lots of time out as a pirate, especially in the New World, but it was pointless to think about those things. That night, Sabo was on watch, and when Luffy was in bed and asleep Law knocked on his door. It was in the middle of the night, and Luffy was exhausted before he got up and opened his door. "I'm sorry, Luffy-ya. Can you give me some melatonin?" he asked. Luffy nodded and injected Law with what they'd found was just the right amount of asked for. "Thank you," he said with a tired smile.

"Night, Law," Luffy said with sleepy and heavy eyes, before going back to his bed and falling asleep the second he hit the bed.

The next morning, Luffy showed Zoro their treasure room. Zoro's jaw dropped at the many meters across of treasure with multiple feet up in the air. It was a huge mountain of gold, with neatly stacked paper money in the corner. "Holy crap. How much is this?"

Luffy replied, "Last time we counted, 1.34 billion. We took a lot of treasure with us when we left. Breakfast time," he said and ran down the hall and to the galley. Ace was cooking that morning, just eggs and slightly burnt pancakes. They really needed a chef, as none of them were good. Zoro didn't comment on the terrible food, or he'd get a hot frying pan to the face by Ace.

"So, anyone know somewhere with a good restaurant?" Sabo asked, looking warily at the burnt pancake. Ace bristled at the look, irate with their reactions. He was doing his best, okay? Just cooking things until it is crisp with his flames is a lot different than using appliances, even though they were _nice_ appliances. But no one said a thing and ate the food.

Luffy didn't count, he ate anything. When he was little, Baby 5 convinced Ace to cook a shoe and feed it to Luffy. And he had eaten it whole. It was lucky Law had already eaten his fruit and just got it out of his stomach easily. The pranksters had gotten in a lot of trouble after that and never did it again.

Luffy forgave them laughing about the whole thing. Ace smiled softly at the happy memory. All four of them worked hard to separate the good parts of being part of the "family" with the end result. Ace was picking at his food now, frowning and staring at the table.

Sabo touched his shoulder. "Don't think about it," he said softly. The other two knew what he meant. They each had a face when they thought about what had happened. Ace nodded, and continued eating.

When Zoro looked confused, but did not ask, Luffy simply said, "Sometimes we feel sad when we remember the good parts of the past compared to what happened in the end." Zoro nodded. Then he asked, "So, you can turn into people, right, Luffy? With the clone fruit?" Luffy nodded, licking the plate clean. Ace smiled, glad at least _someone_ liked his food. "Do you have any powerful people?"

"I have Marco phoenix and everyone from the Doflamingo pirates. Why?" he wondered. Zoro grinned.

"Wouldn't it be helpful if you could imitate powerful pirates or even powerful marines? Wouldn't that be really helpful?" he asked. Luffy's mouth opened. That would be awesome _and_ helpful!

Ten minutes later, Luffy lay on the couch in the lounge. The others were around, some reading while Zoro lifted weights that Luffy had made out of wax. He wasn't going to go for Whitebeard. They were leaving them alone and he didn't want to anger them again and risk retaliation. He used his glare-glare fruit to search in the New World before going back into Paradise, to Marineford to get the admirals and Sengoku. He was so excited for this.

He searched each pirate ship, knowing who he wanted. He was going for another yonko, then for some of the Big Mom children. He didn't want to risk touching Big Mom. She was scary, he didn't want to get anywhere near her. He found his target, Red Hair Shanks. He was drinking in their galley, and Luffy quietly popped a hand on his shoulder before gently tapping his face, before letting the hand disappear.

Shanks looked around in surprise before looking down at his alcohol. He started drinking again with a shrug. "I got Shanks. I'm going to Totto Land. Wish me luck," he said, then zoning out again to rush his sight further into the New World until he reached the candy islands. He didn't know where the certain people were that he was looking for. The top two. They were all he needed.

He found the most important one first. Charlotte Katakuri. He took a deep breath, searching the room for any openings. But he knew he was too fast for Luffy to tap him from a distance. So, he waited until the man was distracted before he bloomed a hand and tapped the man's face. He was barely able to let the hand disappear before a huge, haki covered hand moved to grab it.

Luffy watched nervously, heart hammering in his chest even though he knew Katakuri couldn't reach him. And Luffy didn't show who he was. It was just a strange hand, but it _would_ seem suspicious. He hurried to find the woman next, before Katakuri could alert everyone something was off.

She was drinking what looked like wine in a huge library with cages. He took a deep breath and did as he did with the other, bloomed the hand on her shoulder and tapped her face before it disappeared. He took a deep breath, "I got Katakuri and Smoothie. Should I go for Kaido? Doflamingo would know if it was me if Kaido says anything."

Law said, "Don't go for Kaido. Don't risk something that big." Luffy nodded, and asked who else he should get. Any pirates. "I can't think of any others at the moment. Why don't you start going after the marines?"

Luffy nodded, and felt Law take his hand. "I'll be fine," he said, and then focused his gaze in the opposite direction, over the red line before he paused over Mary Geoise. He decided it would be best to get a Celestial Dragon some time. He found the nearest one, and bloomed a hand on his shoulder before tapping his face through the plastic bubble around his head. There, he got it.

His gaze didn't linger there before it moved into Paradise and to Marineford, where he zoomed in to find any of the admirals. He would get all three at once, since they were all in one room. Sengoku was there as well, so four at once. He took a deep breath, and then quickly bloomed a hand on the nape of the neck of each one before the arms touched all of their faces. They disappeared. And to spite the marines, he bloomed a hand on the wall and waved goodbye.

He grinned, enjoying this immensely, it was giving him a huge rush. He watched for a bit as the admirals calmly freaked out about the hands that were there and were now gone. Time to go for the vice-admirals. It was easy to search for them in HQ, but there were only four there. He knew all of them, as they had been made to memorize marine bigwigs as children, as well as bigwig pirates.

An arm bloomed on vice-admiral Garp, who was eating crackers. He tapped his face and then the arm was gone. Next were the ones he knew their appearance but not their names. He bounced from ship to ship, finding and tapping them and disappearing before they could understand what had happened.

He finally opened his eyes with a sigh and laugh. "I got a ton of people! Wanna see?" The others nodded, and Luffy led them out on deck since so many were pretty big. He changed through each and every one, body size changing drastically between Shanks and Katakuri. "I wish I didn't have a flimsy truece for the Whitebeards so I could catalogue him, too," he said with a pout.

"Well, better safe than sorry," Law said, and Ace asked what part of that was even safe.

"I also got a Celestial Dragon, in case we ever need something like that," Luffy added. He was so happy, and wished he could collect more people. More powerful people. Law then asked if he could check up on Dressrosa. "Sure," Luffy said, and sat on deck before closing his eyes.

He observed the island and castle. "Doflamingo is still on the island. The other executives as well. It looks like… like everything is back to normal. People and toys walking around, seeming just fine," he said in confusion. Ace grumbled. Their revenge hadn't been permanent.

Sabo said, "Well, maybe that's a good outcome. Then he wouldn't come looking for us if our rebellion was permanent. It's like nothing even happened." But he was irate as well. Luffy thanked Zoro for the great idea. The others thought it was a good idea as well. "Our powers are so convenient," Sabo said with a smile, changing the mood of the group.

Law asked Zoro if he wanted a devil fruit, too. "Nah, I'm fine with swords. Besides, who else would fish you out of the water if you fell in?" The three brothers grinned and Law shook his head with a chuckle.

"You fit in so well, Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed.

That night, Luffy and Law took watch, sitting in comfortable silence, Luffy leaning against his side. Despite not being a logia devil fruit user, Law was warm. Luffy was wearing his hat, which Law had plopped onto his head. Ever since they were kids and Luffy paid for his hat to be washed, it had always stayed in pristine condition. It was big on Luffy's head and shadowed his eyes.

Luffy liked Law's hair when it was crazy. It always looked like he had bed head, kind of like Luffy. And Law never let anyone touch his hat, so Luffy was very happy he was an exception, again.

"I got that hat from my family when I was five," Law said, breaking the silence. "I had it when the massacre happened, when my city was being ravaged by marines and neighbors from other countries. That's why it was so dirty back then. I wore it when crawling in the mud and dirt, sleeping on the street and using it as a makeshift pillow. I'm really thankful that you washed it those years ago. That made me really happy. You were the first person I encountered since the incident who was nice to me without an ulterior motive," he said with a smile in his voice.

Luffy snuggled against his arm and said, "I just wanted you to be happy. You were always sad and looked so tired." Law nodded.

"I was tired of life. I was resigned to the fact I was going to die young, and I just wanted to take as many people down with me as I could. But you helped me even before then. It was your idea to bring me back to the ship. I hated you for it at first, but now I'm just so thankful that you were -are- a nice person."

Luffy shook his head, but Law already knew what he was going to say, and cut him off. "A nice person who has done not nice things."

Luffy looked out at the ocean, and said, "Sometimes I wonder how different me and Ace and Sabo would be if we hadn't gone with Doflamingo. What kind of people would we be? But it was the right choice that Ace and Sabo chose in the long run. We were a mess when they found us first. All of Sabo's body parts were different animal parts. Ace couldn't function because one limb was fire while the other was lightning. I dragged on the ground because the mochi was impossible to control.

"Ace and Sabo always knew he wasn't sincere. I thought he was, but I was only five when we joined. I didn't know any better," he finished. Law put an arm around his shoulders. They were quiet for a bit, just listening to the wind and soft waves.

Law broke the silence by asking, "What do you want to do for your birthday?" Luffy looked confused. "It's in two weeks, right?" Luffy looked down. He didn't even remember his own birthday, but Law had. Luffy shrugged, not knowing what he'd want to do. They'd obviously have cake. That he made, no one could bake if their life depended on it. Hopefully they'd have a chef by then.

Luffy asked what _could_ they do. There wasn't anywhere to go in the middle of the ocean to celebrate. So he shrugged. "Hopefully I can make cake alright." Law chuckled.

"Well, we could celebrate it early at the next island. We chose one of the more stable islands this time. We're not gonna find new crew members on an island uninhabitable by humans," he pointed it out. Luffy nodded.

He said, "I love it just being us, but I look forward to having more friends, more crew members. It'll be really fun." Law teasingly said he hoped Luffy wouldn't forget about him. "I could never forget about you," he said, a little heatedly but not nearly as forceful as the last times he'd said something similar to that. "I… l-love you, you know?"

Law grinned brightly, white teeth shining a bit in the moonlight. "I love you more." Luffy giggled. It was a nice watch, and they swapped with Zoro sometime in the very early morning while it was still considered night time. He gave a dose of melatonin to Law when they stopped at his room. Luffy took off the hat and handed it to Law. He took it and leaned down to kiss the smaller's cheek.

"Night, Luffy-ya," he said. Luffy smiled and wished him the same, going to his room feeling fizzy and warm.

-x-

"I know what I want for my birthday," Luffy said, two mornings later. He'd thought about it a lot and knew what he wanted. They all looked up from their food, a questioning expression on. "I want to get tattoos." His brothers and Law weren't expecting that. Luffy had never expressed the desire for tattoos. "And I know what I want."

Ace wondered what he wanted. "I want a tattoo for you both. In black, a bird with black flames under it. And a second one that is a black and white version of Law's fruit." They were all surprised by the choice and Ace said, "Awww! Lu, that's so sweet!" Luffy giggled. "You know, it would be cool if all of us got tattoos."

They were glad Zoro never was upset being out of the loop of things. They referenced their past quite a bit, and it was strange to have someone, an outsider of a sort, who didn't know what they were talking about. The swordsman was fine with not knowing what they meant. It was a relief.

Zoro asked, "What if you don't stay together forever?" It was an honest question, but they scowled at him before Luffy said, "Even if we don't stay together like this, Law has been my best friend for years. Why wouldn't I want a momento to those years, even if we don't stay together?" he asked simply.

"What he said," Law added. Zoro looked embarrassed a bit, and Ace snickered at him. After breakfast, and after they all cleaned everything up and put the dishes in the washer, Luffy got to designing his tattoos. But he'd never been an artist, and his attempts just looked horrid.

"Guys, I'm not good at drawing," he whined, crumpling up another piece of paper. Sabo took his pen, and expertly drew what Luffy had described, almost like he was reading Luffy's mind. "Wow, Sabo!" he shouted as he looked at his future tattoos. Sabo blushed at the heavy praise, and Ace demanded Sabo draw his as well, and was followed by Law.

"I'm not for you guys to use!"

Law smirked. "You should feel flattered. We acknowledge your talent and want you to design our tattoos," he said. Sabo flushed and said, "Well, fine," and designed the others' tattoos. Luffy was the only one who would get the ope-ope fruit. His brothers both used the bird design and Sabo used the flame design. But their design for Luffy was harder.

None of his powers were exactly beautiful. Many were very messy. So how would they make an elegant design for Luffy's powers? They wrote down a list of all of his powers, which Luffy had memorized. Zoro was napping in the corner with his swords propped against the wall next to him.

"Oh! I have an idea! What if it's the side view of a mirror, and reflects the other symbols," Luffy offered. "Like this," he said and drew a messy square with the flame or bird ensign reflected in it.

The three were amazed by the ideas coming from his simple head. "These are really good ideas, Lu. I'm impressed," Ace said proudly. He then turned to Law, asking what he would get. He thought for a moment before saying, "I was thinking about getting a band around my arm."

Luffy asked what it would be. "You guys are my closest friends. So I'm gonna get something that represents you all," he said, a bit flustered, but sounding completely honest. Luffy beamed brightly and latched onto Law's arm. "I was thinking similar to your ideas. The band will be fire with a bird flying over it. I was thinking of just a heart for Luffy. None of his fruits are elegant, and my heart belongs to him, so why not?" His face was red, and Luffy's face was red, but he was very happy.

"Who knew you were so romantic?" Ace teased. "And adorable."

Law said, "Don't make me shamble you." Ace scoffed

"I'm one of your captains, that would be mutiny." Sabo rolled his eyes and Luffy giggled. Law and Ace shared a fake-heated glare, before Ace started laughing and Law just sighed, shaking his head.

Luffy was very happy. They had it all planned out, and now they just had to find a tattoo parlor on the next island, where they'd be celebrating Luffy's 16th birthday, getting him a real, nice cake. Not a makeshift one he made for himself using his powers. They spent much of the rest of that day joking around or playing card games. Zoro played, too, having missed the entire tattoo conversation. He was right; he napped a lot.

Law expressed jealousy of someone being able to fall asleep by themselves like that, since he'd always suffered from insomnia. Luffy helped him with that a lot, which was the reason he'd ever used melatonin in his horm-horm fruit. To help Law out, who was his best friend when he learned that particular hormone.


	13. Interesting People

**chickie434: <3 <3 <3**

* * *

It was late that night that Luffy's mind wouldn't shut up, so he decided to use his glare-glare fruit to look around and fall asleep doing that. He couldn't help his gaze searching for ships, and came across a small one that was boring, so he moved on. He gazed across twelve miles before his gaze stopped on the Whitebeard's ship, which was still, since it was late at night.

He saw big-hair out on deck, the one who had laughed when Marco was turned into a woman. He was carrying a devil fruit, and Luffy was surprised to see that it was the fruit they'd found and tossed overboard months ago. How on earth did it make its way to the New World?

Luffy watched as a big shadow came up behind him, and got a bad feeling. One of sliminess and generally one of disgust. He noticed he was carrying a knife, heading towards big-hair silently. Luffy formed a hand and grabbed his ankle, making him trip. Then he bloomed a dozen arms and chained him to the ground, arms being forced backwards.

"What the fuck?!" he shouted. Luffy could hear, as one of the arms had an ear on it, too.

Luffy kept him down and then bloomed another arm and picked up the knife where it was laying. Big-hair had turned around, and Luffy's solitary hand waved the knife around to get his attention. The clueless pirate turned around to see a very angry slimy-dude. Luffy was entertained by his reactions. He was furious. He bit at Luffy's arm since he couldn't move out of the tight grasps.

He formed another hand and slapped the guy across the face, hard. Big-hair started shouting for people, and Luffy watched as people came out on deck, Marco included. "What the hell?" he asked quietly.

"Teach was coming up from behind me with a knife. I didn't even notice, and then the-the hands tripped him and restrained him," big-hair said in shock. Teach started shouting out denials and Luffy slapped him across the face again. He hadn't bloomed a mouth, but the others clearly recognized them.

The Luffy pulled his signature move and turned the fat, hairy man into a fat, hairy woman. He screamed in horror at his changing body and Luffy snapped an arm backwards hard, hearing a crack.

The arms all disappeared, leaving the traitor pirate in pain on the ground, and found himself cuffed and chained. "Why did you help?" Marco asked no one since his arms were no longer there. But Luffy bloomed a mouth and replied.

"I was bored," he said simply. "I'm going to bed, bye." And he disappeared, opening his eyes to be back into the present, where his body was, and then closing them, this time to fall asleep.

They were on the next island, looking around for a tattoo parlor, Luffy holding Law's hand. Zoro was watching the ship, since he was not getting a tattoo like they were. Luffy had forgotten to tell any of them about saving an enemy pirate. He'd done it before he fell asleep, so it was a bit fuzzy. He didn't remember to tell them.

The town they were in was a nice size. Not as big as Water 7, but also not tiny. There were lots of restaurants to pick for Luffy's birthday dinner. Somewhere that served cake would be best. They found a tattoo parlor after a while of searching, and entered. Luffy had the drawings of what they wanted in a backpack he had on. For some reason, he just wanted to use the backpack instead of a pocket. One was full of money, which was never removed, only added to.

They went up to the desk, and it went by smoothly. The artist came out, and looked over their references, and said that those should be pretty easy. Plus, none of the filled in places were too thick. It could all be done that day. But there was only one tattoo artist, so it would take many hours to do all four of them.

So, while two were there, the other two were out exploring town. Ace and Sabo were the first to stay, having a den den mushi that connected to Luffy and Law, in Law's pocket. It could also reach the one stationed at the ship.

They went shopping and bought a few books and a soft blanket Luffy decided he wanted. He was holding hands with Law, talking about what they were seeing. Luffy was doing all the talking while Law was just content to listen, a relaxed smile on his face.

When they entered a coffee shop, Luffy heard someone mention Whitebeard and Shanks meeting for some reason, Luffy remembered what he'd done. "Oh yeah! I forgot! So a couple nights ago, I was trying to sleep and was bored, so I tried distracting myself by using the glare-glare power, right? And I looked at the Whitebeard's ship, kinda wanting to turn someone into a woman in their sleep, but then I saw one of them crew with a knife going after big-hair, who laughed at me turning Marco into a lady. I tripped the guy and stopped him."

Law was looking at him in disbelief. "So, you saved one of them?" Luffy nodded. "And why didn't you tell us this after it happened?" he asked in a slightly irritated voice, though Luffy didn't notice it.

"I forgot," he replied simply. Law sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well, it's better than you killing one of them. But that's out of character. You don't save people you don't know," Law pointed out. Luffy was about to say he wasn't sure when it hit him. He looked sad and Law picked up on it easily.

Luffy said, "I don't like traitors," in a harsh voice. Law nodded. Luffy was thinking of Doflamingo betraying them, planning to kill Law and then Luffy to get what he'd wanted. Law put his hat on Luffy's head. "Try not to think about it too much. But what if they think you want to join their crew now? Enemy pirates don't go out of their way to help one another. But it sure was lucky you were looking at that precise moment."

Luffy thought for a moment, before saying, "Well, maybe we can get them to be our allies? We're a small crew with no allies and a strong enemy, no matter if he's coming after us at the moment." Law nodded, admitting that an ally, a strong one, would be helpful. They didn't know any other pirate crews that they could ask or trusted to help them out some day.

Then Law pointed out, "We'd have to help them if they needed it, though. It'd have to be a two way street. Though I don't think the Whitebeard's would really need allies for anything. Marines leave the yonko crews alone, and rarely are pirates stupid enough to challenge them."

Luffy laughed, "Except me," he said. Law nodded. "But it was cause they were coming after us, so of course I made them leave us alone." The older teen grinned and kissed Luffy's hand, bringing it to his lips.

"You're silly," he said fondly, Luffy's face beet red. But it felt nice, and he hugged Law for it. He gripped the hat lightly, loving the soft texture of it. He remembered when it was matted and grey. Now it was soft and white. After they were done with their second round of coffee and hot chocolate, the den den rang, and Luffy picked up.

"We're done, it's your guys's turn now," Ace's voice said. Luffy nodded and hung up, not realizing that Ace couldn't see him nod, and they both got up and returned the empty mugs to the counter, and headed back to their original destination.

Law went first, and they paid the money for the tattoos up front. Everything was so cheap knowing they had so much money. Law's was first, and Luffy waited in the lobby, explaining to his brothers about what he'd forgotten to tell them. "So Law said we could be allies, or something. But we had to ask you, you're the captains," Luffy said lightly.

Sabo put his hand on his chin. "Indeed it would be great to have a yonko as an ally. I think it would be a worthwhile idea. All because you were bored and feeling generous." Luffy giggled.

He closed his eyes and found the yonko ship easily. Zooming out very widely over the New World was easier to see their huge ship than most others, besides Big Mom's ship, which was just massive.

He looked in the captains' quarters, but found no one, so he searched for the captain. He found the captain, Marco, big-hair and a bunch of others all in one room with a long table. He bloomed a hand on the table in the middle of all of them, and then put up an ear on the hand. The table went silent, and Luffy waited for someone to say something. They could always decline his offer to be allies, and that would be fine, but he had a feeling they wouldn't.

"Whoever you are, thank you for saving Thatch," the captain said in a strong voice. A mouth formed on the hand, below the arm. "Why did you do it?"

"I don't like traitors of any kind. I have a proposition," he said, getting straight to the point. No one spoke, so he continued. "My crew wants to be allied to yours."

One of them was not fond of this idea, and pointed out all that he'd put them through. "None of it was permanent. If you want to turn it down, then that's fine. It's just an offer," he said.

Whitebeard spoke, "No, you saved Thatch, I accept allying with your crew. How will we get you a den den connecting to our ship?" Luffy said that he'd pick it up later, but couldn't right now since he was getting a tattoo. "I'll come back some other time today. Bye," and his appendages disappeared, opening his eyes and leaving the Whitebeard ship to come back to where his body was.

"They agreed. I'll go back later today through the mirror world to get their den den. That was easy! We got a yonko ally! All cause I was bored and couldn't sleep," Luffy bragged, laughing happily. When Law came out, a bandage wrapped around his arm, Luffy ran in for his tattoo to be inked. It was in the same place as his brothers', on their left shoulders. The ope-ope fruit would be on his right shoulder.

The feeling of the tattoo needle wasn't comfortable, but did not hurt. He stayed completely still, wanting the tattoos to be perfect. It took a couple hours before both were done. He pulled some cash out of his pocket and tipped the artist. "Thanks for your hard work, mister," he said politely and then ran out of the room. No one could see one anothers' tattoos since they were covered by bandages. Luffy took Law's hand, still wearing the spotted hat. It was late by now, nearing dinner time. They still hadn't found a place to go for Luffy's little party.

They went back and got Zoro after Luffy locked up the ship and glued it to the docks with hardened candy and wax just to be super safe against the ship somehow being stolen. The five went to a big, bright restaurant whose menu featured delicious looking desserts.

Since it was a fancy restaurant, they had to wait to be seated, and were given a booth at the window. The small crew sat at the booth and looked at the menus. There were ones specifically for dinner, but Luffy didn't discriminate. It was lucky the table was so huge, since they'd be ordering a lot of food. Zoro and Ace ate a lot as well. And the newby drank a lot, so they'd be getting expensive sake. Luffy wasn't allowed to drink yet, even if he was a pirate and turning 16 in a few days. Ace and Sabo insisted against it. He wasn't very interested in alcohol, though, as it smelled bad.

Once they knew what they were each getting, they waited for someone to come take their orders, but no one came. Ace became very impatient, where Zoro said, "It looks like they're only serving the tables with women." So, Luffy changed himself into a woman, opening the top button of the shirt and going over to the nearest waiter.

"Excuse me? We've been sitting over there for awhile and no one has come to take our order. Did you forget about us?" Luffy asked, feminine voice completely different than his usually blunt and excited male voice. He was trying to act pretty so they could get their food. All of their stomachs were rumbling.

A blonde man with a curly eyebrow ran to her, and apologized for the wait. Luffy led him back to their table, and the man, Sanji, as his name-pin said, scowled when he saw all the other men and Luffy sitting next to Law. They were all having a hard time not laughing and were just snickering under their breath, looking away.

"What would you like?" Sanji asked, focusing only on Luffy, who read out nearly every appetizer and entre. And that was just for him to eat, the others ordered their own food. "And when are the rest of your party arriving?"

"It's just us," Ace replied. Sanji blinked twice, and said he'd go start the dishes. "I'll be sure to make your dishes perfect, miss?"

"Luffy," Luffy said simply.

"Miss Luffy," he said with a flourish. The table broke into laughter.

Even Law was laughing. "Don't turn back yet, you have to change back right in front of him," Zoro commanded, and the other three nodded. Luffy pouted, looking down at the big boobs. He poked at them, and said he wanted them to go away. They were heavy and bounced too much.

"Well, it's only for until we get our food. Hope they bring out the drinks soon," Zoro said, leaning back in his spot in the booth. Another waiter, not Sanji, came over with their drinks. It really was like they were having a party. Zoro drank straight from the bottle he ordered while Ace and Sabo shared theirs. Luffy had a spiced apple cider, and Law had a bottle of beer.

It took over an hour for the food to come, and Luffy was dying he was so hungry. But when the servers all came over and started putting the dishes down, the pirates all grinned at how delicious it all smelled.

Sanji was there, offering Luffy another serving of his drink. "I hope you enjoy, mademoiselle," Sanjo said politely with a bow.

"Thank you!" Luffy exlcaimed and turned himself back into a man to eat. Sanji dropped his tray, his mouth hanging open. Law laughed at him, "Hey, what were we to do? You were only serving the tables with women."

Sanji looked horrified, and stiffly turned around and walked away as the table of only men now roared with laughter. Luffy giggled he ate like he hadn't eaten in days. There was barely any talking while they ate, though the food was wonderful. They finished it all off in record time, all of them but Sabo with food around their mouths. Law had taken back his hat once they'd arrived so Luffy wouldn't accidentally get food on it.

They were all stuffed, but still needed dessert for Luffy. Ace would hold his fingers over the cake and light them on fire since they didn't have any candles. Sanji grudgingly came back when Luffy raised and waved his hand frantically for a waiter to come. The waiter had lost all politeness to Luffy. "What?" he asked in a hard voice.

"We want to order cake for my birthday," Luffy said, unfazed by the rudeness. Law and Sabo looked at the man with disapproval. That wasn't how you acted at work, right? Not with a place where you're serving customers. Sanji asked what flavor and Luffy asked for strawberry.

"No, Lu, strawberry cake tastes like shit," Ace said. Sanji snapped that nothing they cooked there tastes like shit, that they'd like everything they would be served. "So, would you be willing to refund us if we think the cake is crap? After all, you just told us we'd like it for sure. That could be seen as misleading." Ace had a shit eating grin on his face as he teased the already angry waiter.

He didn't answer the question, just said he'd bring one of their cakes soon. Luffy cheered, excited for the dessert. Law put his large hand over Luffy's. "Happy early birthday," he said. Luffy grinned up at him and thanked him.

The cake was pink with red frosting. Ace was wary with it at first, as he'd had bad experiences with strawberry cake before, but it was delicious. They wouldn't be needing a refund. They ate it greedily, Luffy having the most slices. But, it was his birthday after all, so no one stopped him from inhaling the delicious cake. After they were finished, they were all stuffed.

Luffy had a distended belly while Zoro looked a bit ill. It wouldn't take long for them to get better, and the swordsman's remedy to really anything was more booze. Booze to him was food to Luffy. They paid on their way out and gave a heavy tip even if Sanji had been a jerk. It was dark out, so they headed to the port to sail out a little ways before heading to bed, Ace and Sabo on watch that night.

The dinner took way too long, but when they got back Luffy and Sabo immediately went to the mirror world and Sabo flew his brother on his back to a Whitebeard mirror. It was ten, but surely not late enough for grown men to be asleep.

They found the captain in his room, seeing a huge boot from a bathroom attached to the captain's quarters. Luffy banged on the mirror from inside, but the yonko heard it and walked to the huge bathroom. Everything was huge in there. Luffy stuck his head out, since no one could hear him from the outside.

"We're here for the den den," Luffy said simply, head through the mirror and body through the other dimension. Whitebeard said nothing and walked into his room a bit to fetch a large den den that was sleeping. Luffy took it and handed it to Sabo. It was heavy. Bigger den dens were better quality than the mini kind.

Sabo reminded Luffy of what to say. "Just to be clear, we're not a subordinate crew. We're allies. We'll help you out if you need it and you'll help us out if we need it," he said, not in a rude voice. Just a simple one, with no room for argument.

"I agree. I have a question, though. Do you spy on us often?" he asked, sounding almost uncomfortable. But Luffy shook his head.

"I just couldn't sleep that night, so I tried focusing on something other than going to sleep. I found your ship while I was searching around. Big hair was on deck and the traitor had a knife. But I don't watch your crew often." Luffy fought the urge to pat his face, as it was the best time to do it. But they were allies now, and he would screw it all up if he did something like that.

Whitebeard asked, then, why Luffy had saved Thatch, other than being bored. There had to be another reason, which was true, and Luffy had told it to Law when he'd asked. "I don't like traitors," he said simply. The yonko didn't ask for specifics, which he was glad of. "Well, nice to be doing business with you. I'm Luffy, and my brothers are the co-captains, Ace and Sabo. The second first mate is Law. Anyways, bye," Luffy said, sinking back inside the mirror.

He took the den den from Sabo so he could fly again and bring them back home. They entered the ship through the mirror in the lounge. "Lu, should we have asked anyone at that restaurant to join us? The food was good."

Luffy thought for a moment. He didn't think any of the people would be good. The food was delicious, but the way the people there served the people was bad. They only served women, which was annoying. "I doubt anyone would want to join us there. We don't have any women on our crew." Sabo pointed out that those who made their food were not the waiters. "Did you see the difference between my food and everyone else's'? You guys all had regular food, nothing fancy looking. And mine was fancy and neat, with decoration-thingies."

Sabo admitted that was a problem. "But we need a good cook. Should we look around more?" the blonde brother questioned. Luffy nodded, and both of them headed to bed. Sabo's room was next to Luffy's while Law's was across from his new partner.

That night, Law came to him again in the middle of the night. He knocked on the door, and Luffy was used to this and was perfectly happy to help Law. He opened the door to see an exhausted looking paramecia. He didn't need to say anything for Luffy to inject him in the arm with melatonin. "Thanks, Luffy-ya."

"Any time," Luffy said back, and then went back to bed, leaving the door open accidentally. Law put the blankets over Luffy and then closed the door behind him.

The next day, the group split up to look for any cooks. Luffy had locked up the ship so all of them could look, with more eyes to investigate. Luffy ran into the waiter from the night before, out shopping. He glared at Luffy, who giggled. He wanted to turn him into a woman, but he had a mission to do.

Ace got side tracked and went into a restaurant to eat, not being helpful for the cause much as he didn't talk to any of the waiters or cooks, just ate and drank.

Sabo headed inside both small and large restaurants. He was dressed very well, a wealthy looking outfit with a top hat and goggles on them. Luffy had made them for him that morning, and he had to say he really liked it. After they left Doflamingo, they'd all sort of found a unique style. Well, in Ace's case, he lost his shirts and only wore shorts. Luffy kept with button up tank tops with ratty shorts. Law stuck with pants and long sleeve shirts. Sabo's had taken a while, but he'd slowly morphed into proper clothes.

He sat at the bar counters of the restaurants, mostly ordering one thing and some water before talking to the bartender, probing about any cooks that might be open to leaving their job to join them. Their crew would not force someone to join. They'd negotiated with Zoro, but he turned out to be perfectly happy on their ship.

But he had little luck. When he left the third restaurant, he noticed he was being followed and headed towards an alley that led to the next street over. He'd gotten directions to the next establishment, slowly and steadily making his way from restaurant to restaurant. They'd all judge the cook's food once they got an exception to the offer. They didn't want a shit cook.

But when he turned the corner, he heard whoever had been following him screaming. It was a woman, and he told himself it wasn't his problem. He had no reason or obligation to help this person.

But, like Luffy had, he made a bad judgement and turned back to see the woman being manhandled by a huge man. She was fighting back alright, using haki, but it just wasn't enough, since this man was using haki as well.

Sabo walked over and yanked him off of her easily. He didn't need to turn into a zoan to win, and just covered his hand with haki and crushed his windpipe until he coughed blood and then died. The woman stared at him in shock. "You okay?" She looked baffled.

"You're the all-all zoan, Sabo, right?" she asked. Sabo raised one eyebrow.

"You a bounty hunter?" he asked dryly. You don't usually see bounty hunters this young. And she wasn't a very good one if that guy overpowered her. But she nodded, and Sabo could tell easily it was a lie. It was a good one, but Sabo had been used to lies for a long time.

"Liar. What are you?" he asked again, and she started to sweat. "I'm not going to kill you, unless you're here to go after me or my crew," he said simply. He killed anyone who was any sort of threat, but didn't do it for no good reason anymore. He was sadistic when he _did_ do it, but he'd cut back, like his brothers and Law had.

She finally caved when a trickle of blue flame was shown on his shoulder. He did it on purpose, and it worked. "I'm a revolutionary," she admitted, and was instantly on guard. He didn't recognize her form, some sort of martial art.

Sabo leaned back against the opposite wall. "Why are you after us? Don't you mostly go after the World Government?" She narrowed her eyes at him, and it clicked. They were pirates, revolutionaries didn't usually go after those, but they had been part of the Dressrosa take over. "Is this about Dressrosa? If it is, we weren't in charge of that or took place in the massacre the first night. Besides, we defected from his crew and attempted to ruin his reign by turning all of the toys back.

"It didn't last long. But you have no reason to track us down," Sabo finished calmly. She visibly grew less tense but was still on guard.

"Dragon worries about your powers," she said. Sabo asked if she was planning on killing them. "I'm not stupid. I know I can't take you on. But I need to get information on you." Sabo then asked why she would tell him these things. She looked at his hand, which was still coated in armament haki. "I don't want to die." Sabo pushed off of the wall.

"I may have done heinous things, and murdered people painfully, but I'm not a liar. Goodbye, Miss Revolutionary, I have a chef to look for," he said, and walked away, waving with his hand. She didn't follow, and he assumed she went to one of his brothers or Law. Ace and Law would not be as calm or forgiving as Sabo was. He wasn't worried about them, though. Miss Revolutionary didn't seem so strong, and said she wasn't there to attack them. That was good, they didn't need to make enemies with the revolutionary army.

Luffy was sitting in a restaurant stuffing his face, just like Ace was. He'd completely forgotten about his mission, and wasn't even asking the cooks to join them. Food was just too distracting when it was in his reach. He guzzled down orange juice, and then slammed money onto the table before taking off, remembering his mission the moment he left the restaurant. He started shouting for any cook who wanted to join his crew. People just looked at him strangely. When he got sight of the blonde chef again, Sanji, he was handing out some fancy parfaits to women.

Luffy had a feeling he wouldn't give him any as a guy, so he changed himself into a woman again, and fan forward. "Excuse me, can I have one?" he asked. Sanji's eyes turned to hearts just long enough for Luffy to swipe one.

"Wait! You're that imposter woman! Get out of here," he said in a grumpy voice. Luffy giggled and turned back to normal. Some people around screamed in shock and backed away, causing Luffy to laugh. He took a large sip of the drink before Sanji yanked it away.

"Hey!" Luffy said, and shot his hand out to grab the parfait, easily taking it from him.

Sanji moved to kick him to get him away, clearly not knowing who Luffy was. "Only for ladies!" he shouted, and Luffy grinned before stabbing him with his fingers. Luffy had seen it so many times, when the board shoulders and chest shrunk to a curvy figure and breasts. They always had big boobs.

The chef screamed before he put the parfait in one hand and grabbed his new boob with an amazed smile. Luffy raised an eyebrow, never getting this reaction before. He continued to touch his boobs and Luffy couldn't watch anymore, and changed him back. "You're a pervert, aren't you?" Luffy asked simply.

Some people around them overhearing their conversation, nodded in agreement. Sanji turned red, and shoved Luffy's shoulder. "Sir! You shouldn't do that!" a man standing at a stand said. It was apparent he was the only one around who knew who Luffy was. Sanji asked, flippantly, why he should do what he said. "He's a wanted pirate with an all-all fruit! He's dangerous!"

He was right, Luffy was dangerous. Those on his crew were dangerous, but it didn't mean they killed innocent people anymore. They killed without a second thought with bad people, but never with good people. They were sadistic about their killing, that was very true. But they still didn't kill innocent people. But Luffy didn't dispute that. Sanji looked down at him, since he was a few inches taller, with wide eyes.

"I'm not gonna kill you," Luffy said simply. It looked like chills ran up and down Sanji's body. He was totally afraid of Luffy. The pairfair had been yummy, but it seemed he was not going to board their ship even if Luffy asked.

"Luffy-ya!" Law called, coming up to him. "Have any luck?" Luffy pouted and said no. "Have you looked in a lot of places?"

Luffy replied that he'd been eating but found Sanji. "But now he's scared of us even though I told him I wouldn't kill him. I even turned him into a woman and he was happy." Luffy wished he could join, but thought he wouldn't want to. Plus, he didn't seem like a very strong person. Law looked at him and Sanji stiffened.

"Well it can't be helped if he's afraid of us. By the way someone has been following me at a distance, right at the edge of my range," Law said, ignoring Sanji, who had started to slowly walk away. He was glowering, probably embarrassed about being afraid of them. Especially Luffy, who seemed perfectly safe. Law was more intimidating by his stern look most of the time and the long sword he carried everywhere.

Luffy adopted a more dark look, and closed his eyes, easily finding who it was. She was hiding behind a stand, seeming to be taking pictures with her camera den den. Luffy bloomed a hand and swiped it out of her hand, crushing it in his own. A mouth and ear showed up on the wall. "Why are you following us?"

She looked unsure of what to do, and was glaring at the dead snail. He saw Sabo come up near where she was, and heard him ask if she was still following them. "One of your brothers destroyed my den den, so I can't do much," she snapped.

Sabo raised his eyebrows. "You have a change of heart and are not afraid of me anymore?"

"I trusted you when you said you wouldn't kill me," she said simply. Sabo smiled, and said, "It's too bad more citizens don't believe us when we say that." She looked sort of confused.

"I was told that you four were vicious killers. Were they wrong?" Miss Revolutionary asked. Sabo leaned against the wall, and answered honestly again. There was nothing they said that would change the public's view of them. Their wanted posters had both their abilities and what crew they used to be on. No one knew about their allied relationship with the Whitebeards.

Sabo said, "They weren't wrong. We can be sadistic if we want to, but it's not like we don't have self control. We kill enemies, not random people on the street. We're not killing you because you can't hurt us." He didn't say it in a smug voice, just completely honest. But she frowned, though Sabo could tell she was agreeing in her mind, even if she didn't voice it. He pushed off against the wall. "Well, Miss Revolutionary, I need to meet up with my brothers. Have a nice day, _again."_

"W-Wait! I have an important question," she said, stopping Sabo from walking to Luffy and Law. Luffy was still watching and hearing everything. "Are you three D's?" Sabo nodded. "Is Luffy's last name Monkey?" Sabo had a hard stare, dark and one to make Koala afraid.

"How do you know that name?" he asked in a dangerous voice. "Do you know Ace's last name as well? Be truthful," and Koala shook her head. "Well, I'm not answering that question. I don't expect you to tell me why." He didn't say goodbye a third time, just turned and left. Luffy's appendages disappeared.

Sabo walked back to his brother and Law. he saw Sanji fleeing the scene quickly, probably learning who Luffy and Law were.

Then, Ace came back as well. "Guys, I found a chef!" he said as he ran over. Luffy beamed, and asked, "Really?!" Ace nodded.


	14. Another New Nakama

**Giglio_nero: lol. I get the feeling. I'll read a good fanfiction that has a high work count and I catch up or get to the end and am just confused about how fast it went by.**

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**Finished editing my first crossover! It'll be out next week. It's so fun writing a crossovers for One Piece and the other one that's a surprise. I used to hate crossovers. Maybe I was just looking in the wrong fandoms. Who knows? All three of them are LONG. Like, over 140,000 words long, so taking me a long time to edit. I hope people like them, I don't know if there's a big audience for these fandoms or crossovers in general.**

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**I'm posting this chapter early since this one and In Search of a Better Life were posted on the same day (?) last week. The only OC in this story is in this chapter. Enjoy~**

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Law asked where it was, and if the food was any good. Ace nodded, "The food was delicious. She's a head chef, but doesn't like where she works. We had a long conversation, seems pretty nice.

"Pretty sure she knows haki as well. At least observation haki. She threw a dart off of the wall at someone walking in with a gun. No one seemed to be surprised. I offered her to meet you guys and possibly join our crew," Ace explained. It would be strange having a woman on the ship, but not too strange that they weren't fine with it. Their previous crew had multiple women as well.

Ace then told them her shift was almost over and she'd meet them at the park behind the restaurant. "Did you guys have any luck?" The other three shook their heads, and Zoro showed up. He walked over to them, looking frustrated. "What are you so cranky about?"

Zoro grumbled that he got lost, and Luffy and Ace started laughing at him, to which Zoro bristled and shouted at them that it wasn't funny. "Well, we found a chef anyway. She's considering coming with us, but we still have to all go and meet her," Law explained. Luffy was holding his hand tightly, with Law rubbing circles on the smaller's with his thumb.

The five of them headed to the park, Zoro still a bit cranky, while Sabo told them about his encounters with the revolutionary whose name he didn't know. Ace frowned, and expressed worry about them being after them as well.

Sabo put his hands behind his head, and replied, "I don't think they'll try anything against us. It's not how they work. We don't torment citizens, and we own no slaves or affiliation to the government. I think she was here for a different reason, but I'm not sure. It is strange she asked about Luffy's last name, since we haven't used it since he was five."

Luffy cluelessly asked what his last name was. "Monkey D. Ace is Portgas D. I don't have a D and discarded my last name long ago. I don't even want to bring it up, to be honest," the blonde explained. Luffy and Ace said nothing while Law and Zoro hid curiosity. But Sabo briefly said he didn't like his biological family.

That was enough for everyone to understand why he had ditched his last name. "Well my last name is Trafalgar. I also have a D. I don't know what it means, though." It was an interesting development. That three of them were in the same place and had grown up together.

When they reached the park, Luffy and Law sat down, pressed against each others' side, while Zoro sat on the grass and leaned against the nearest rock, and predictably fell asleep. He napped so much. It was ridiculous.

Ace and Sabo sat on a bench opposite to Luffy and Law. Luffy closed his eyes and just leaned against Law, who put his arm around Luffy's shoulders. Luffy ended up drifting off to sleep against Law's warmth.

The chef, Jojo, eventually shows up, two swords strapped to her back in an X. She was wearing jeans and a light jacket, with hair just a shade lighter than Law's. "Hey, Jojo," Ace said, like he was talking to an old friend. He felt he connected to her instantly, both talking animatedly with profanities thrown in occasionally.

"Yo," she said simply. "Are you Ace's crew?" Sabo confirmed, and Law gently woke Luffy up, who wiped the drool away. They woke Zoro up next, who always woke up instantly, unlike Luffy who needed to transition between sleep and being awake.

"I've always paid attention to news in the pirate world. I remember your first bounties, all as children. I never expected to be recruited by you. But I also know you four can be vicious and sadistic. Is that true?" She didn't sound particularly upset about it, just stating facts and an honest question.

Law said, "That's right. We can be sadistic killers, but only for people we see as enemies." They'd had to say that a lot today. "We wouldn't kill or hurt you, though, if you join our crew."

Sabo made sure to edit that statement so they wouldn't kill or hurt her in general, even if she declined. "Would I be the only woman in the crew?"

Luffy nodded, and said, "So far! We need more members, though. Sabo's a good navigator, but we need a cook and a shipwright. Law is our doctor. I can fix up damage on the ship, but not do maintenance and stuff."

Law stepped in and said, "It would be best to get another doctor. My specialty is surgeries, not curing the common cold." Sabo nodded, agreeing with that.

Jojo sat on a bench next to the one Law and Luffy were sitting on. "What are your goals as pirates?" The three brothers looked at each other, before Luffy said, "To have fun and be free. That's our goal as pirates. We're not in it for fame or stuff like that. Just to have fun."

The chef looked surprised by the answer before smiling. "I don't take you as normal pirates who harm or assault female crew members. I'll join." Law did as he did with Zoro, and rushed her, pulling his sword out in an instant. She blocked him easily. He shambled, using his powers to switch places with a trash bin behind her. She moved quickly and guarded before slashing, Law stepping backwards just out of range.

"Go Law!" Luffy called, and Sabo bonked his head. "It's not a real fight, Lu. He's not aiming to hurt her, it's a test. Like he did with Zoro, remember?" Luffy put one fist in the palm of the other in realization. "Oh, okay."

Law stopped with a satisfied smirk. Zoro was watching in interest as well. He didn't seem very bummed that Jojo had better observation haki than he did based on her timed reactions. "You pass," Ace said cheerily. Jojo smiled and sheathed her swords again.

She asked how much money they'd be spending on food. "Don't worry about that, food costs us less than any other resource. Luffy can create food and ingredients out of anything. So most of our food is something useless turned into some sort of food," Sabo explained. Jojo looked happy by that, and asked if it really was _any_ food.

"Yup!"

"Well that's great! Food usually costs so much and expires quickly on a ship where you can't get a new batch." Luffy felt happy being useful. His food powers had always been a help, but more now than ever before.

Jojo agreed to meet them at the ship that night to bring her things, and was happy when she heard that she'd have her own room, and that the kitchen was newer. While they waited, Zoro was training out on deck with a massive dumbbell he'd bought, though there was a layer of mochi below it so in case it fell it wouldn't damage the wood.

Luffy and Law were on the carpeted floor in the lounge, the only two in the room. Luffy was sleeping, his head resting in Law's lap as he lazily ran his fingers through Luffy's soft, and a bit tangled, hair. They both had wild hair, though Law's was mostly hidden by his hat, that Luffy now wore a lot.

Luffy woke up from a sudden sneeze, confused about it before he blinked twice and started laughing, Law chuckling as well. "That was kinda scary," Luffy said with a grin, looking up at Law.

" _That_ scared you?"

"Okay, not scared. Just surprised," Luffy walked back. He hadn't sat up, and Law was still combing through his hair. Law asked if he ever thought to brush his hair. "You're doing a good job, why should I? Besides, having messy hair looks cooler."

Law just chuckled. It was a comfortable silence after that until Sabo walked in and told them Jojo was there. Luffy jumped up, hitting his and Law's foreheads together. All it felt like to Law was a rubber ball, and it didn't hurt. Luffy didn't feel any pain from it either. If it were with anyone who wasn't made of rubber, it would have been painful.

The two both followed Sabo and found Jojo in the kitchen, looking at all the appliances with a fascinated grin. "Even the restaurant didn't have this nice of appliances. How much did this cost?"

Sabo sat at the table, Luffy and Law sitting next, and said, "Around 75,000 berries. We had the ship made custom, and wanted a nice kitchen. It really wasn't much in the grand scheme of things." Jojo was emptying a big bag and putting personal objects in the cupboards, stuff they didn't have already.

"So, how much money do you guys have on board?" she asked in interest as she inspected the refrigerator and food cupboards. She seemed pleased with how organized everything was. The storage room was next to the kitchen out the second doorway, but was pretty empty besides water for drinking and a large bin of useless junk. "That's stuff for Luffy to turn into food. And we have over 1.3 billion berries. We stole a lot of treasure when we left Dressrosa," Sabo explained. Jojo's jaw dropped. Zoro chuckled, having had that reaction as well. It really was a lot of money.

"Where do you hide it?" Jojo asked. "I didn't see any rooms with a shit ton of money in it."

"Remember the door we passed that I said was locked? The treasure is in there, but only Luffy can reach it. The window and door are blocked with wax, mochi and candy. The only way to get in is for Law to use his shambles or Luffy to form a clone to open it for us. It's a good way to keep it out of anyone else's hands. It's impenetrable," Ace said proudly.

Luffy switched the subject completely, and asked if Jojo could cook any recipe. She nodded, "As long as I have the recipe in writing, I can use and memorize it if necessary. Why?" she wondered, sitting down and looking content.

"Cause that one restaurant had yummy food I want to have again. They had really good cake, but I can't make fancy stuff like that with my powers," he explained. Jojo confirmed that if she had the recipe she'd be able to easily recreate it. "Then I'll go steal them!"

No one protested, and Law offered to go with him. "It's like we're gonna be spies," the youngest said enthusiastically. They had dinner first, which was a pasta dish they hadn't had before. They looked forward to having an actual cook instead of eating Luffy's boring creations or Ace and Sabo's burnt food. And she made a good amount, with Luffy aiding her and making her bins of uncooked pasta.

After that, they waited for a while until it was very late, and they knew the Bartie was not open 24 hours. Luffy first bloomed an eye in each room, looking to see if anyone was still there. Nobody was and the lights were off. "Okay, it's all clear," Luffy said. They were wished luck, even though it wasn't needed, and Luffy and Law walked into the mirror world and to the bathroom of the restaurant.

They left the dimension easily and silently, as Luffy had silenced them. "Hey! This is our second mission like this. When we were stealing something secretly." Law raised his eyebrows.

"That's true. Last time it was to save my life, and now it's to have nice food. Close, but not quite," he replied. They walked through the restaurant, heading up the stairs to the kitchen. They picked through the cupboards neatly, not taking out anything that would show they'd been robbed, even if they weren't robbing much. Just one of the probably many recipe books they had.

Luffy was not being so sneaky, since he had no reason to be worried. Law would come up after every cupboard he searched and make it neat again, without a word. He finally found one on a shelf Luffy had already searched. "Got it," Law said, holding up the very thick book. He opened it and saw there were many notes on the inside. "This one has a lot of notes in it."

"Better for us. We're pirates, we don't have to be honorable when we steal something," Luffy said, and Law agreed, nodding. He also swiped a menu so they could choose what they wanted easily, since Jojo said she was able to cook anything as long as she had seen the recipe once.

They easily slipped back into the bathroom and crawled through the mirror, since it wasn't a full body mirror, but one above the sink. They walked the small distance back to their mirror they'd come from, Luffy stopped them, and got on his tip toes and kissed Law, just a peck to the lips and then he walked back onto the ship, face pink but with a smile. Law took a few seconds to follow, Luffy putting his hand inside so he could enter.

It was Ace's bedroom mirror, and Law stopped Luffy by grabbing his wrist. Luffy stopped and looked up at him. He leaned down and captured the smaller's lips, a deeper kiss but not nearly intense or sexual. They separated and Luffy started to hysterically giggle, hiding his face with his hands. Law grinned and gave Luffy his hat to hide his face in instead of his hands. The giggles were muffled through the hat, but he then held it with one hand while the other took Law's.

They didn't say much about it before they headed back to the kitchen. "We got it," Law said, holding it up. Luffy was still hiding his face, but had stopped laughing.

"You okay, Lu?" Ace asked in worry, and Luffy put a thumbs up up and finally took the hat away from his face, showing it was pink but not red anymore. He didn't give the hat back to Law, and instead plopped it on his head. Law didn't protest this, fine with Luffy wearing his precious hat.

Jojo took the recipe book from him and opened it, looking at all of the detailed notes. She didn't seem to mind, though, and commented that they would be helpful. They were pirates, and Jojo had joined them now, so stealing something as simple as a cookbook was nothing.

They went to bed not long after, each heading to their own rooms, with Luffy giving Law his hat back. "Goodnight, Luffy-ya," he said softly. "Actually, can I have some melatonin in advance? I know I'll have trouble sleeping tonight." Luffy nodded and injected him in the arm when he held it out, the sleeve rolled up so it didn't leave any holes, no matter how tiny they'd be.

Luffy went to his own room, and injected himself as well, knowing he would be in the same boat as Law if he didn't.

They left the island the next day, stocked with water for a while. When it was early morning, and the restaurant was opening (Luffy had seen the place's hours), he watched the cooks look around for the book, starting to point the finger at others for losing the book. It was entertaining to see, as Sanji beat up those who accused him. It looked like he was strong in his own right.

But they already got a cook, so he was no longer needed. But Luffy still watched the fight, wondering what would happen in the end. And it all ended when the owner arrived and beat the crap out of _all_ of them with a wooden stump of a leg. Even Sanji. He formed an ear on the ceiling.

"If you can't cook our dishes without a damn cookbook, then what kind of chefs are you?!" he demanded, and Luffy chuckled, before opening his eyes and removing the ear. He headed to breakfast, and the menu was already being used, though they had to all agree on what they wanted.

Luffy was fine with anything on the list, but Law and Sabo were picky. Always had been picky. They argued for a bit between two dishes, and Jojo stepped in and said, "You can combine them. A compromise, are you children or what?" she asked in disbelief, making Luffy and Ace laugh loudly, frustrating the two bickering. Jojo already felt comfortable enough to show attitude to the feared pirates and a captain.

They finally decided, and Jojo quickly made the food, Zoro napping even though he'd _just been asleep._ Luffy ran out of the room, causing curious looks, and then came back in with a marker. When he neared Zoro's face with it, a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Zoro opened his eyes, glaring at Luffy. So he used his other hand, but Zoro grabbed that one too.

Luffy bloomed a hand behind him that grabbed the pen in an instant and sweared the ink all over Zoro's face, since it was at an awkward angle. Luffy laughed and then ran around the table to keep away from a very angry Zoro.

But, once the food was made, Jojo hit both of them on the head with haki. "Don't run in my kitchen."

"We bought it!" Luffy said angrily, a bump forming on his head.

"You bought it for _me_ to use, so it's my kitchen now," she said sweetly, making Ace laugh and Law sigh. Sabo just grinned and they all started devouring the meal, though Sabo and Law were more clean about it. Jojo was the only one who really ate like a person with manners would. She didn't seem bothered by it, probably used to it from her previous job.

After breakfast, Luffy was sitting outside on a cushion, making his first attempt at using Doflamnigo's string powers. He was able to make tiny strings about as thin as a spider web, but they were weak. But, he knew he'd catch on fast after being exposed to the powers so much over the years.

It took him two hours before he was able to pull string out of his fingertips and tie them in knots that wouldn't break. No one bothered or distracted him while he did this. They were quiet when he were outside but spent much of his training inside. He knew that if he mastered the executive's powers, he would be able to impersonate them at any time, even using their powers. It would be so convincing, but he'd only do it if it were an emergency and was worth risking the wrath of him. He was already able to become Katakuri. He was able to use the mochi power well, and could now change into his body and mimic his clothing, as he'd seen it in his glare-glare fruit multiple times.

He knew it would make them in a bad place against the Big Mom pirates, so he wouldn't do that. Just like if he could impersonate Whitebeard and also use his powers, he didn't want to infuriate the yonko and get himself and his crew killed.

So much power lay in his hands. Political power, as well, now that he could mimic the vice admirals who had paramecia devil fruits. He could wreak havoc in a new way, all around the world. He was so adept at multitasking that it would be easy to use four at a time. The clone-clone fruit, the clothing fruit, the flower-flower fruit as he could make duplicates of himself, as well as whatever power the person he was impersonating could do.

He'd never felt more important to the world than he did after realizing this. He'd master Doflamingo's power. He would, because then he could get him kicked out of the warlord status. He could steal everything away from him. If he were to attack a high ranking marine, then he'd be in trouble, Celestial Dragon status or not.

 _Or,_ he could make the man an enemy of the world by having him assault a Celestial Dragon. But that would definitely have to be a duplicate just for safety purposes. He could do so much. He looked at his hands in his lap. They could do _so much._

But, he wouldn't let the power get to his head. He was amazed, but was not consumed by the urge to do dangerous things like make an enemy of the World Government or Doflamingo and by extension, Kaido.

He was getting distracted, so he closed his eyes and went back to practicing. Food was brought out to him instead of going to lunch and dinner. His brothers had told Jojo about Luffy needing to concentrate if he wanted to learn a new ability quickly. And the experience he'd had, seeing the string power used so often, he already knew attacks he could use, all of Doflamingo's attacks, so he wouldn't need to figure those out himself, make them up. He was so ready.

By bedtime, he was able to shoot the strings out and tie things up, cut through fruit and soft things with them as blades. He didn't want to use the parasite move, as it was just a bad thing. But he would learn the bullet string as well. But, for now, he was tired and wanted to go to bed. He needed a bath in the morning.

Law was already in bed, but awake. Luffy knew he was reading, and left him be and he tiredly walked to his room, and got out of his clothes before putting comfy shorts on, and curling under the covers.


	15. Secret Plans

**Giglio_nero: Omg, thank you! I never thought someone would want an OC from another story to be in one more. That comment made me so happy. I guess I wrote her right, then.**

* * *

The next day was spent much the same. The two captains discussed their plans with one another and those besides Luffy. He was grateful that they let him practice in peace. It was a bit boring, but he knew this was very important. He had no way to practice Pica's power, and he didn't want Trebol's power just because it was so disgusting. But Pica, Doflamingo, Diamante, Baby 5. Those were the ones he wanted to master. In order: Doflamingo, Baby 5, Pica, and Diamante.

The ship was going to be stopping at an island in four days, so Luffy had plenty of time to practice. Though he needed a break every now and then, at least twice a day, to go socialize. He was a social person and got lonely easily. It was better when someone else was out on deck, but not gaining his attention. Just so he knew he was not alone. It was silly, but it had been with him his whole life.

That just never went away.

Three days after his conviction, he asked the three who knew Doflamingo to rate his impression. He was nervous, but he went inside and took over his appearance before making himself the correct clothes. When he left the interior, he summoned all of his old captain's body language.

"Hey, Law…" Luffy said in a sinister voice, wearing that shit eating grin and chuckling in that way that you couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Bullet string!" he said ludy and shot out at the left of Law's face, close enough to touch his hair. Then he laughed again, and changed back, now wearing clothes that were much too big for him. "How'd I do?"

The brothers and Law all had huge eyes, and Luffy worried he'd scared them. But Law asked, "Luffy-ya, how long have you been practicing that? The impersonation?"

"Two days. Why?"

"Holy crap, Lu. That was incredible. You know what this means?" Ace asked, voice in awe. "We could frame him if we were ever brave enough." Luffy nodded seriously, and said he'd thought about that as well. "We shouldn't play with fire yet. Maybe once we have more strong crew members. Since our plan to ruin his life in Dressrosa failed, taking away his warlord status would be the ultimate spit in his face."

Jojo asked, "Why do you all hate him so much?"

Sabo explained, "We thought he cared about us for a decade, and he _lightly_ told Law he needed to die for him, that he owed him this. Luffy stepped in and took Law's place. He died, and used his only chance with the revive-revive fruit. He'd been using us all along. Luffy thought that he was sincere, so it hurt all of us, especially Lu, when he did what he did. We want revenge."

Law and Luffy scowled, remembering that nightmare situation they'd gone through together.

Luffy said, "I'm going to practice with other people whose identity I've acquired." Ace praised him for the big word in a teasing voice. "Shut up! I'm smart!"

"In some ways. Not in others," Ace said with a cheeky grin. Luffy shot a bullet string at him, but it went right through Ace's head, like he knew it would.

He dismissed everyone, saying he was going to be deep in his glare-glare fruit. "I'll be spying on someone I'll probably never imitate. Don't interrupt please." Law kissed him on the cheek, telling him good luck. Luffy grinned bashfully and nodded.

"Awwwww," Jojo cooed, Law shooting her a glare, where she chuckled.

Luffy spent the next two hours in his room, on his back with his eyes closed. He watched the life of Charlotte Katakuri. How he spoke, walked, the look in his eyes. His body language, everything. He wasn't a man Luffy wanted to piss off. He just seemed so cold, like ice. Luffy wasn't even there physically and he felt inferior.

It was not weird to Luffy that his bounty was so high. He watched him, hoping he'd use his mochi powers so Luffy could use them as well. He mostly used them for stretching and practical uses, like using them for every day tasks. He wasn't good at fighting with it, but he was able to change his body into the substance when needed.

As Luffy watched, he spoke out what he was saying in his tone of voice. He had an ear in the air vents, where no one could see them. Katakuri mainly stayed in one room, but when he stopped speaking with Smoothie, the other sweet commander he'd stolen the face of, and looked up at the air vent where Luffy's ear was stationed, the young man made it disappear, but still watched.

Katakuri went to the vent and opened it, but saw nothing. Luffy couldn't hear the dialogue, but it seemed Smoothie asked what he was doing, and Katakuri responded something about "nevermind". Luffy's heart was racing.

If watching him from thousands of miles away made him that on edge, he was definitely not going to impersonate him in public. He left his room, a small headache pressing against his skull, and went to the kitchen to get something from the fridge. But then he remembered he wasn't allowed in the kitchen without Jojo's permission. He didn't like it, but Sabo allowed it. Stupid captains. Well, Luffy wouldn't cross the red tape and just stretched an arm to the fridge, opening it and taking a container of lemon chicken out to eat.

It was yummy, and his heart stopped racing and went back to normal after eating a bit. Food calmed him when it needed to. He ate all of the chicken in the container and washed it in his hands with the bubble power before blooming hands to open the cupboard and to put it away. There! He didn't touch any part of the kitchen that Jojo would interact with.

He left the galley and headed to Law's room, knocking this time. "Yeah?" he asked, and Luffy entered the room. "Luffy-ya, why did you knock?" he asked in disbelief. Luffy had never knocked, ever. So it was weird. But he shrugged.

"Katakuri is scary," he said simply, and went to sit on his bed. "Made my hands shake. I'm never going to impersonate him in public." Law put his hat on Luffy's head.

"Don't worry, he's far, far from here. He won't know it is you even if he caught one of your appendages being there." Luffy told his partner about Katakuri sensing his ear in the vent in the ceiling. Law raised his eyebrows. "He still doesn't know who you are. He can't target who he doesn't know."

Luffy nodded, knowing he was right. "I thought we were all invincible, but he made me feel small and weak. I don't like him, I never want to meet him." Law patted his lap and Luffy sat down in his crossed legs, leaning his back against Law's much more muscular chest.

Law kissed his ear and said, "Well, we'll just need to get stronger. Till we're not afraid of bigwigs like him. We're young, we have plenty of time to make a name for ourselves."

"So does Doflamingo. He can't age now. I helped him be even stronger," he said, sounding ashamed. "I wish I could have saved you without having to do that. I hate him," he hissed with venom in his voice.

The older teen patiently said, "We can't change the past. We'll get him back someday. Besides, now he can't _age_. Doesn't mean he can't die or be sentenced to prison. Hell, if he's given a life sentence, he'll be in prison for forever." Luffy nodded, knowing that was true.

"Some day, we'll take revenge. I have an idea, how to make it more credible. I've been thinking about it for awhile. I'd have to train more, it would take a ton of energy." Law asked him to explain, even though Luffy was planning to. "I could go there, impersonate Doflamingo. I'll have a clone be with me, one of the executives. And while we do this, while I'm doing this, I will have trapped him in the separate dimension in the door door fruit. I'll jump into a mirror and release him from that. Then he will be there, the real him."

Law whistled. "I didn't know you were so good at strategizing," he said. "It sure would be a great frame."

Luffy frowned. "I want him to pay for what he's done. I don't care about Dressrosa or his old missions, but for betraying us. Wanting to kill you and seeming to feel nothing. It hurt really bad, his blunt betrayal. He just used us. He was never family. I _trusted_ him. I shouldn't have," he said, his voice drenched with sadness and hurt.

Law kissed his neck softly. "I know it hurts most for you out of all of us. You were really young when he came. To you, he saved you from poverty and helped make you and your brothers able to control your bodies again. Under him, you made friends. You thought you made family. And all of that broke into a thousand pieces when the incident happened."

Tears cascaded down Luffy's cheeks. He wiped at them furiously, very embarrassed. Law was saying exactly what the situation was. What _had_ been the situation. "Did you trust him?" he asked, sniffles heavy in his question.

Law was quiet for a minute. "I never trusted that he would be there for me for everything. I trusted that he thought we were his family. He always attacked anyone who hurt us. I was convinced, just like you. I didn't trust that he was a good person. I just didn't think he'd be a bad person to _us._ I was fooled as well. It wasn't just you," he said in a kind voice, the voice he reserved for Luffy only. He wiped away Luffy's tears with his thumb.

"We lost our old family. We're building a new one," Law stated simply, but in a firm voice. Luffy nodded, and took the hat off to give back to Law.

"Thank you for being understanding. About us going slow. We don't kiss or other stuff. It's like stuff didn't change, we just touch more now," Luffy said, unsure about the topic, but being honest.

Law said, "I didn't think we would change much. We were already so close. Things are different now, maybe not between us too much, but inside us. I feel a lot different now. I don't know about you. I'm fine with going slow. It's my first relationship, too, you know?" Luffy nodded, a small smile on. He was glad he wasn't a disappointment. That he wasn't a kid who didn't understand couple stuff. He just didn't know how to or when. How to kiss or anything else. He'd get better at it, though. Through experience.

Luffy ended up sleeping in there that night, facing Law on his bed. The younger woke up first and looked around. He was still in his day clothes, and definitely not his own room. He'd slept in Law's room. It didn't make him uncomfortable at all. Law was honorable when it came to those he truly cared about.

He quietly got up and left to go take a shower. He felt sad. Luffy rarely felt _sad._ He decided to see what was going on in Dressrosa, and closed his eyes while standing under the warm water, running over his upturned face.

He looked in the castle, and saw everyone either sleeping or awake. Both his and Law's old bedrooms were empty, no furniture there anymore. He checked in the hall bathroom, and everything that had belonged to them was gone from the bathroom as well. There was a manuscript on the wall of all of the members of the "family". They had a lot of stuff like that, that they'd say symbolized the family.

The four of them had their names crossed out, as was Corazon's. He wondered where he was now. If he was alive. To keep his mind off of his sadness, he opened his eyes and finished the shower before going into the mirror world. "Show me Corazon." There were no offers from any mirrors.

Sabo had always thought Corazon was not his real name. So, he turned his gaze back to Dressrosa and looked back in the castle. He saw Doflamingo was no longer in his room, but out having breakfast in the living room area. So, Luffy went back to his room, and bloomed hands on the door to lock it before his hands sifted through paperwork and photos. He wanted to know what Corazon's real name was. Doflamingo was biologically related to him, so there had to be some photo with both of them.

He found a photo in a box that had writing on it. It showed a snobby looking child-Doflamingo and a smaller boy whose face was hidden by long bangs. Rosinante. He opened his eyes and then called, "Show me Donquixote Rosinante!"

"Here! We have him here!" a shout in the distance called. Luffy walked to it, seeing it wasn't too far away. He was glad he was alive, but wanted to know if he ever truly cared about him. The truth might hurt, but not knowing was eating away at him. Wondering if _any_ of it had been real.

He arrived at the mirror that showed a bedroom. It looked pretty boring. Since he couldn't see much from the mirror, he bloomed eyes in the room, and they widened when he saw where he was. It was a ship that belonged to the marines. He worried that Corazon had been arrested, but found him lying on the bed, sleeping. The makeup was gone, and his black coat was nowhere to be seen.

He bloomed a hand on the bed and slapped him hard. Corazon, because that's who he was to them, looked around and saw the hand. "Was it all a lie?" a mouth on his pillow asked. Corazon froze.

"Luffy?"

"Yeah. Were you lying the whole time, too? Was it all a game to you as well?" Luffy asked in a hard, cold voice.

Corazon sat up and leaned against the bed frame. He looked strange without any of his old outfits. He looked normal, but boring as well. If Luffy didn't know it was him, he'd never had recognized him. "I was undercover to catch Doffy and put him in jail. Nothing went as planned, and once he seemed to start noticing inconsistencies in my personality, I knew I had to leave. I couldn't fight him, and my efforts to stop Dressrosa weren't going to work.

"I truly care about you and your brothers and Law. Did something happen with Doffy? I saw your new wanted posters when they started circulating." Luffy thought about whether to tell him, but there was no point in hiding it.

"He told Law he needed to die for him by using the ope-ope fruit to grant him immortality," he began, but then the marine asked if Law was alright. "Law is alive. I took his place. I died, but the revive fruit brought me back. We left after that. We tried to cause his downfall, took Sugar and put her somewhere in the Blues. It didn't work."

Corazon looked very sad, "I'm sorry, Luffy. I wished to take you three to somewhere safe, but even with the marines, they would think your fruits are too dangerous to exist. It was safer for you to stay with them. I'm so glad you're okay. I wish Doffy hadn't gotten what he wished, but what you did saved Law and your own life."

Luffy wasn't happy from his words. "I want to bring him down," Luffy said simply. "I want him to pay for faking all those years."

Corazon frowned, "I know. I understand why, and I wish the same thing. But he's protected under the World Government as a Warlord."

"Then take it away! Bad things happened in Dressrosa. We were heartless, we didn't know any better from being raised by pirates, but it is bad things," he said firmly. Corazon shook his head with a weary face on.

"We can't take it away from him without something huge. The World Government wants to do what he wants because he was once a Celestial Dragon, and holds information they don't want to get out."

"That makes no sense. If he has information they don't want to get out, why not just kill him? He can't age now, sure, but he can die. He can go to prison!" Luffy didn't understand why the marines couldn't just take him down. He hated the marines, but he also hated Doflamingo. He wanted both of them gone forever, but Doflamingo took place more now in his heart. He wasn't even upset Corazon had lied. He felt numb about it. He'd been absent for many years, after all.

"It's not that simple, but it should be. I'm sorry I can't get any revenge for you against him," the marine said. Luffy didn't really know what to say.

"So, are you after us now? We're not under the wing of a warlord anymore," Luffy said in a flat voice.

Corazon looked down and said, "I've respectfully declined from going after any of you or your new crew. I'll never be one of the marine's coming after you. I'm happy you're free to make your own decisions, even if they somehow hurt another person."

Luffy snapped, "We don't kill random people for fun! Sure, we've killed a lot of people under Doflamingo and made a lot of people suffer, but since we fled Dressrosa, not once had we killed an innocent person. It's all enemies, marine or otherwise. I searched through his things to find your real name, now I have my answers. Goodbye."

"Wait!" he shouted but Luffy's ear was gone and he was walking away from the mirror before he sat on the floor and cried. Now even that was ruined. Why did he ever want to know? Why couldn't he have just thought Corazon left because he didn't like Doflamnigo, or he didn't want to be a part of bad things.

He wasn't honest from the get-go. He was fake the whole time, clearly not mute. Didn't even like his brother and was just there to spy. Both of them were fake. So fake, and all four of them fell for it.

He knew he was probably worrying his family by not being on the ship, so he went back through the bathroom mirror and exited the room. Ace was there immediately. "Where the hell were you?!" he demanded, and others ran over.

Luffy sniffled, unsure of whether he should tell them the sad news. But they hadn't been close with Corazon. He always hurt them, but not Luffy. "Jojo, Zoro, can you leave? I need to talk about something personal with them about our past," he said in a small voice. Feeling bad for excluding them, but they both seemed to understand.

The four of them went to the lounge and sat on either the couch of the floor. They waited for him to speak. "I looked back at Dressrosa. They've gotten rid of all our stuff, the rooms are empty. Our names are scratched out on the thingy that had everyone on the family's names. I saw Corazon's was missing, too. I wanted to know if he was still alive, so I went digging through Doflamingo's things with my flower hands. Found a picture with Corazon's real name. He's a marine and was undercover for the whole time. He's also not mute."

The other three were confused and shocked. "How do you know it was him?" Ace asked kindly, seeing the pain on his brother's face and in his voice.

"I confronted him. We talked for a bit. He told me he's not a marine that's gonna come after us, and is happy we're free. Even if we hurt people, and I told him we don't kill innocent people. Then I left, I don't know what he said after that," he finished. He hunched his shoulders but didn't cry.

Ace and Sabo knew this was very painful for him since he'd always felt like Corazon's favorite, that he was special. But knowing that _all of_ him had been a lie had to hurt. It didn't affect the other three much since the man had never been kind to them, tried physically harming a lot. Well, he did harm them, but it did no damage.

Law spoke first. "I'm so sorry, Luffy-ya," he said sincerely. He took off his hat and gave it to Luffy, who didn't put it on but hugged it to his chest like a child hugging a teddy bear. Luffy felt stupid for being so upset. Corazon had left years ago without a word. He was glad he wasn't dead, but this wasn't the answer he wanted.

"I hope our crew is good and won't put us through pain like this," the youngest said quietly.

Ace took his hand and said, "Well, if anyone of our future crew betrays us or starts to seem fishy, it's either the next island or into the water, depending where we might be." The other two nodded, and Luffy sighed.

"I'm sorry I'm being so whiny. What kind of pirate cries and whines like this?"

Law immediately said, "Once with a heart. Doflamingo wasn't sad at all when his brother left. He didn't bat an eye at the prospect of you or I dying. He doesn't have a heart. You're a better pirate than him right then and there. I don't think truly successful pirate crews run on hating one another. Think of the Whitebeards. They all act like a family and are very strong. We won't ever have a crew that huge, but we could be like them. _Will_ be like them. We'll be close knit without crew, and protect one another. And we won't bend to the will of others."

Luffy looked guilty. "We're supposed to be close with our crew yet I'm making them stay away while we talk." Sabo was quick to reply.

"Being a good crew doesn't mean we know every little thing about one another. I don't think we should focus on the past. We don't need to hear their life stories to accept them here. Zoro and Jojo don't need to know every detail of what we went through all these years. They already know a good amount of information. We won't force them to tell us about their pasts, so they can't ask for ours," the blonde said calmly. "I know we all want to bring Doflamingo down, but for now, let's strengthen and build up a notable and close knit crew."

Luffy nodded. "Sounds like a good plan." Sabo grinned and ruffled his hair. Luffy was still hugging Law's hat, who didn't have a problem with it. "Why don't we have breakfast now?"

Jojo was let in, and unsurprisingly, Zoro was napping outside the door. She didn't ask anything and just smiled, asking what they wanted for breakfast. There was no bickering this time. Luffy had to wake Zoro up before the food started cooking.

There were six of them now. They had a chef, now they needed a doctor and a shipwright. They were all eating when Sabo said, "I'd like to get another navigator." The others were surprised since he was good himself. Luffy pointed this out, wondering why. "I don't think I'm the best at it. I'm acceptable, but I can't predict the weather well. Luffy helps when he uses the glare-glare fruit, but I don't want you to have to use your powers for that," Sabo explained. "I just think it'd be a good idea."

Ace said, "Well, I don't think we need one, but if you need help then I guess it'd be a good idea to get one, just in case." Sabo knew Ace wasn't making a jab at him, though, and was glad he was agreeing. So far, they were doing well as co-captains. There had been nosplit or argument in any orders or decisions.

Luffy was happy he didn't have to be captain. He could practice on his own with his powers and not be skirting any responsibilities. "How about on the next island we search for someone? And we can look for a shipwright as well."

Law said, "We should have gotten a shipwright from Water 7. There were plenty." Zoro pointed out that they weren't seasoned in the New World, and that they weren't going to wait to train anyone. "That's true, but still. It would have been lucky to take one who was strong."

Ace changed the subject a bit and said, "I wonder how the Franky Family are doing as women?" curiously. Zoro stopped drinking and turned his head. "What."

"Luffy punished attackers by turning them into women after Law chopped them up into pieces," Sabo explained simply, and Zoro's face went white. Luffy felt offended, and shouted that he wouldn't do it to friends. Law just laughed about it, saying that his and luffy's teamwork had always been great. Luffy nodded with a grin.

As Luffy trained with the next power on his list, Baby 5's power, Zoro lifted his crazy weights, Law was writing down in the log book about the last island they went trough, Jojo was baking that strawberry cake that Luffy asked for, and Ace and Sabo were inside discussing what they'd be doing first on the next island. It was a smaller one, with only one town and one port. Their flag was still unknown, so someone might want to take their ship, though Luffy locked the inside very well. So they'd have someone on the ship at all times while the others go off the island. They'd take turns and change shifts so everyone had a chance to go on the island.

First on watch would be Luffy, but he didn't have a problem with that.

The youngest had his eyes closed as he imagined Baby 5's morphing limbs. He was starting with just one finger, turning it into a gun. He was able to do that, but the bullet wasn't coming out. When he told Law, he suggested he learn about how guns work. Learn their anatomy and how they function. "But we don't have any books about that!" Luffy whined. Law shrugged and said he'd just have to wait. "I don't wanna wait. I'll steal one through my mirror world!"

"Why don't you just wait? Work on another's power? There were plenty of power users on our old crew. You could work on someone else's for now," Law said in a reasonable and patient voice. Luffy liked him like this, not getting angry at him. Not that Luffy had injected him with anything in awhile. And he wouldn't.

Luffy pouted and grudgingly agreed. "Love you," he said simply, and ran back to his spot. Law smiled, a little pink in the face, and said "Love you, too," but didn't know if the younger had heard him.

Luffy decided he needed to choose another fruit, since he couldn't use Pica's on a wooden ship. So he decided to use a less dangerous one, and try Diamante's power. When Luffy was little, he thought Diamante was the coolest when he fluttered. He asked if the man could use his power on him, but he had claimed he didn't want to end up hurting him somehow.

The youngest scowled at the memory, which must have been faked. Lied to him, pretended to care. He'd learn their fruits and use them against them. He'd frame Doflamingo sometime in the future. He didn't know when, but he would. He'd play as dirty as you can get and wouldn't feel bad.

He practiced some more, but got bored quickly when nothing interesting was happening. It was surprisingly difficult to use. When he tried turning a piece of wood into something that flutters, it was slept away by the wind.

Deciding to take a break, he went back to Law and leaned against him, closing his eyes. He decided to check how close they were to the island. He was extremely high in the sky looking down so islands would be easy to spot, and saw a mass of land that they weren't heading to, but was very close.

He headed inside to tell Ace and Sabo. They were looking over maps they'd stolen from Doflamingo which really weren't too helpful since they were on a different island route. They chose a different starting island so now the islands they chose wouldn't be the same as they'd already been through.

"Guys, there's an island a little to the right. It looked uninhabited, though," Luffy explained. When he was asked which direction, he repeated the right. Sabo asked him if he was looking forward, and he nodded.

"To the east, then. Well we could make a detour. We have enough food and water for a couple days longer," Sabo said, and looked to Ace if he agreed. He did, nodding his head. They went out and steered the ship towards the east, heading to the unnamed island. It was strange it didn't have anything attracting the log pose. At least in the New World, the log pose was easier to use and they would still make it to the island they wanted to arrive at next.


	16. Masked Deuce

#### Exogot7teenbangtanboys: Lol they needed a chef and I didn't want Sanji and there aren't that many chefs other than people I don't want. It's one OC, and not all the Strawhats will come. Literally the only OC I've made and she was in my vampire baby Luffy story. Most Strawhats in the story or even mentioned at all. This has nothing to do with cannon so they wouldn't be going to Whole Cake Island regardless. It's not temporary, it's time to say bye bye to Sanji. Plus, we all know he wouldn't join anyways. They don't have a woman on the crew lol. That would definitely be a deal breaker. 

* * *

It didn't take too long to get there, but they soon realized why it was uninhabited. There were whirlpools around it. See, if they had a real navigator, they could have seen this coming. They all held on to the ship for dear life as it was thrown around in the whirlpool. Finally, Sabo turned to drastic measures and transformed into a dragon, his largest zoan by far, and gripped the figurehead in his tail and pulled them out of the whirlpools and back out to sea, dropping anchor and being so glad that the figurehead had not ripped off. The ship was sturdy, but it had to be to sail in this part of the Grand Line.

So, they flew to the island on Sabo's back, Zoro and Jojo absolutely terrified, though Zoro hid it as best as he could. They'd never ridden on Sabo before. The other three were fine with it, having gone on rides with him around Dressrosa more than once.

Sabo landed easily and waited for his crew to get off before changing back into a human smoothly, popping his neck since it had been so long in dragon form. It wasn't how Kaido looked, Doflamingo had told him that. He was glad he looked different.

"Why don't we split up and look around? Maybe there's some treasure!" Luffy suggested. So they got into groups, Ace claiming Luffy before Law could. Luffy was perfectly happy to spend time with Ace. Law was with Zoro and Jojo with Sabo. Law watched Luffy and Ace walk away with an unmanly pout before he wiped it off of his face.

Ace and Luffy explored the beach before they headed to the forest to see if there were any animals to hunt. Ace and Sabo had done it before they had Luffy, and they remembered how. Luffy was only used to killing humans, not animals.

"Hey, Ace, look. A skeleton," Luffy said, pointing at a bleached, intact skeleton. He was wearing a ring, and Luffy thought it was pretty and went to take it. Ace stopped him, and Luffy pouted before they went into the jungle. There was nothing but birds. It was boring. Ace wanted to get a better view of the island, so he made an ice ladder and climbed up to the tallest branch, Luffy swinging his way up after.

"A pretty view," Ace commented, and Luffy nodded in agreement. "So, Lu? Have you and Law kissed yet?" he asked mischievously. He had no problem with Luffy and Law, even if protective brother instincts were hard to wrangle into a pen. Luffy's face turned red, and he nodded. Ace couldn't help the anger that welled up, but berated himself for being ridiculous. Luffy was small for his age, but he was still 16. And a kiss was not a big deal.

"It was short. I did it first," Luffy admitted. Ace was surprised that Luffy was the one to make a move and not Law. Though, they seemed to be going at a pace good for Luffy. Ace had no doubt Law could be more, ehem, affectionate if Luffy was more mature. But he was glad that the older teen was respecting Luffy and his pace.

Ace was about to ask another question before Luffy saw something. "Hey, look, it's a person!" he exclaimed, pointing to a man with blue hair, attempting to build a raft. He seemed to be stranded if he had a raft and they had seen no ship near the island. "Let's go check it out," the youngest said, and dropped from the forty foot tree, landing on his feet easily. Ace dropped down after him, also landing neatly. Devil fruits were damn awesome.

They trotted to the guy to hear him swearing with quire diverse profanity. "Hey! You!" Luffy called, and the man whirled around to see them both. He didn't have any weapons, but neither did Luffy and Ace and they were strong and dangerous.

"Are you stuck here? Where's your ship?" Ace questioned, both of them walking closer, controlling their body language to seem harmless and innocent. He didn't answer, but both of them were patient.

Finally he spoke, "My ship was destroyed by the whirlpools." It sounded like he'd had his own ship, but they found nobody else. Either they were all dead or he was somehow alone on the ship. They both heard his stomach roar, and remembered there were no animals or edible vegetation.

Luffy picked up a piece of driftwood and turned it into a big loaf of bread. Ace made a cup of ice, filling it with his unnamed water power. They handed him the food and water. He looked skeptical, so they both tried the water and food. "See, not poisoned. You're hungry, right?" Ace asked.

The man slowly, cautiously, took the offerings and guzzled it down and ate the bread in what would be an impressive pace if Luffy didn't exist. Ace filled the cup with water once again. "Thank you," he said gratefully, sounding much less wary and put off by their presence. "Did you get stranded as well?" he asked. He looked to his raft, which was in poor condition and would no doubt sink.

Luffy shook his head and Ace replied, "We're here with our crew. Our ship is docked a bit away from the whirlpools." The man raised his eyebrows, and Ace could understand what he was thinking. "We have some devil fruits that helped us get out of the whirlpools once we were taken into them."

"Made me dizzy," Luffy added. "Who are you?"

"I don't give out my name."

"Why do you have a mask?"

"I'm not going to answer."

"Where did you come fro-" and Ace punched him on the head.

"Stop asking questions he clearly doesn't want to answer, dummy," Ace said, and Luffy giggled, and apologized. "Care if we give you a nickname, since you won't give us your real name?" The man frowned but nodded. "Hmm… How about Deuce?"

Luffy asked why that name. "It sounds cool," Ace replied simply. Luffy complained that he wanted to name him.

"How about we put 'masked' in front of it? Sounds cooler, and he has a mask, so it makes sense," Luffy added, and Ace agreed while they pretty much ignored the subject of their conversation. "I'm Luffy and he's Ace." Ace had completely forgotten even introducing one themselves. "How long have you been stuck here?"

It wasn't a very personal question, so Deuce replied, "Twenty days. I've been trying to get off, but the whirlpools destroy them."

Ace hummed and said, "Well it's a bad idea to be in a tiny raft in the New World regardless. Have any other ships come? Maybe to help you out?" Deuce shook his head, and the brothers weren't surprised. Rarely were people nice enough to go out of their way to help in the New world, when most sailors were pirates or marines. Maybe it was a good thing that no one went on this island.

"You can come with us," Luffy offered, and Ace scolded him, that he wasn't the captain so he couldn't make that decision. Luffy pouted, rubbing his head where Ace hit him again. Stupid haki. So, Luffy punched him back in the side with a haki covered fist.

Ace gave him a deadly look. "You will regret that," he said in a cold voice. Luffy backed away and suddenly started screaming for Law to save him. Ace shot out ice and stuck it around his feet, but Luffy turned up his body heat to melt the ice and scramble away. By now they weren't paying attention to Masked Deuce at all.

Ace shot a plume of fire at him, but Luffy put up a barrier, and then stretched his arm backwards to throw a punch. Though it would be a cruel one. He made his fingertips into needles, prepared to break the truce that was not using powers on one another. The older man recognized that look, and his eyes widened. "Don't you fucking dare!"

He started running down the beach and into the treeline, hiding behind the thick trees. He held up a piece of wood that his fingers got stuck in. Ace yanked it forward and collided his fist into Luffy's face.

"ROOM!" and Luffy was replaced by a rock. A very angry looking Law stood on the beach with Luffy in his arms, sticking his tongue out at Ace.

"Stay out of this, Law! He punched me and then tried to turn me into a woman!" Ace shouted, still hiding from behind the tree. Law looked down at Luffy with disapproval. Luffy just giggled, and then Law put him down. The fight passed when Luffy rudely pointed to Deuce and said they found "a stranded guy with blue hair".

Deuce looked uncomfortable but also annoyed. Law looked at the little raft and asked, "You're going to try and sail off the island in that?" He was clearly hiding the disbelief, and making it a polite question. Though his raised eyebrows gave another feeling away.

"Hey, Masked Deuce, wanna come with us?"

"Luffy, what did I just tell you?!" Luffy once again stuck his tongue out at him, making Ace erupt into angry fire. Luffy just laughed at it, still in Law's arms. He set him down and told him, "You're going to make Ace start a wildfire." Luffy laughed again and rubbed the back of his head.

Sabo and Jojo arrived, towing Zoro behind, who had gotten lost after walking away from Law. That had to be his worst weakness. Luffy pointed and laughed at him for getting lost. He was feeling very happy and carefree at the moment. The others were happy to see that and not the sad look and demeanor he'd given off not long ago, which popped up at random sometimes.

"There, Ace, talk to Sabo about it," Luffy said bluntly. Law patiently said, "Luffy-ya, we don't even know if he wants to come with us. Don't jump to conclusions." Luffy looked surprised, like he hadn't even thought about the fact Deuce hadn't said he wanted to come or not.

Sabo asked what was going on, finally letting go of Zoro, sure he wouldn't get lost again on an open beach. Really, how could someone with observation haki get lost so much? It was both funny and a pain in the ass. At least he didn't get lost on the ship. That would be so pitiful and humiliating for him. But, he'd have an excuse like a child. How could he be older than Law?

"We found Masked Deuce trying to build a raft to get off this island. Luffy keeps insisting we take him with us despite him not saying a word about it and he _not being a captain,"_ Ace explained simply. Luffy was pouting, and Deuce was sweating uncomfortably behind them, completely ignored. He was just watching the trainwreck of a conversation.

Sabo turned his head. "You strong?" he asked simply. "We can't have weaklings on the crew in the New World." Deuce bristled at it and glared at Sabo.

"Yes, I am strong. Just cause I got stranded on an island doesn't mean I'm weak. You can't exactly control forces of nature like the ocean and weather," he said heatedly.

Ace was watching with interest. "Do you want to consider coming with us? If you pass our test?" Law brought out his sword, ready to do the "test" for a third time. Zoro and Jojo both knew what the "test" was. Though Deuce had no weapons. And he didn't seem to have a devil fruit either. The brothers could tell when someone had a devil fruit by the presence they gave off.

"Will you drop me off on the next island?" Deuce asked slowly.

"Well, we won't keep you against your will. We're not Whitebeard pirates. If you want to leave you can. We'll probably take anything dangerous for people to know out of your memories if you do leave," Sabo said honestly. Deuce's eyes widened. "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt and Luffy's good at it."

Things were obviously not adding up to Deuce about the brother's powers, though only Ace and Luffy had shown theirs. "What devil fruits do they have?"

Ace crossed his arms and said, "We ate the all-all fruits when we were young and then were raised as Donquixote pirates. We've defected from their crew and are forming our own now." Deuce raised his eyebrows, clearing knowing what the all-all fruits were. "So, will you be coming with us?"

Deuce looked at the crappy raft one last time and then nodded. Law was on him in an instant, and Deuce blocked the sword with his arms covered in armament haki. He punched at Law and they could all tell he'd make a powerful hit, so Law shambled himself to be behind him, and he just barely dodged the slash. He nearly got Law in the face, and he ducked before running at Luffy with his sword out. The crew knew what he was doing.

"Room! Shambles!" and Deuce was switched with Luffy. He once again brought his arms up, having adjusted to being in another place at an instant. Law stopped and sheathed his sword. Ace said, "You pass! That was amazing! You have such fast reflexes." Deuce looked embarrassed and didn't reply. "Do you have a profession? Like being a pirate before?"

The blue haired man shook his head. "I was a student aiming to become a doctor, but I gave that up since I was no good at it," he said casually. Luffy pouted. They needed a doctor and they wished Deuce was a good one. Ace asked if he was any good, or if he truly sucked. He looked uneasy, and replied, "I don't know if I was any good. The people around me told me I was crap, so I'm not sure."

Ace frowned. "So, your family were assholes, or your friends?"

"Family. Brother and father," he replied. He didn't seem very upset about it, but Luffy was frowning deeply. Ace and Sabo called him dumb all the time, but he knew for sure that they loved him. They got in fights but none of them were permanent and usually ended in laughter. They fought physically but it was never the aim to hurt one another. He couldn't imagine having his brothers treat them like that. Ace asked if they were biological.

"Why does that matter?" Deuce asked. They were still all standing on the beach in a group, exploration of the island no longer a thought. Luffy had his hand stretched to hold onto Zoro, since he started wandering away and they knew he'd get lost again. Luffy thought it was funny, but also a little annoying. He also felt bad for Zoro, having that bad a sense of direction. Though Luffy used "right and left" more than any actual directions.

Ace shrugged, "Well, Sabo had shitty biological parents and he ditched them and found me. Then we found Luffy and made him our brother. Since then we've been together, closer than biological families. Parents suck."

Deuce nodded, looking at Sabo and his brothers, probably just now noticing the differences. "Well, you must still be hungry, being stuck here so long with no food. We should get back to the ship. There's not anything interesting about this island after all," Sabo said. Luffy beamed, excited to ride dragon-Sabo again. He easily shifted in size and shape, becoming just about the size of the ship.

Luffy jumped on while Ace got on next. He held out a hand to help Deuce up. He was clearly uncomfortable, so Luffy stretched one arm and looped it around Sabo's thick neck and then wrapped the other around Deuce a few times. "There, now you don't have to worry about falling off."

The newby's face was white as Sabo lifted off the ground and easily flew to the ship. It only lasted a couple seconds to get back to the ship and land, shrinking and getting those who were on his back down as well. Luffy ran inside, shouting for food, while Ace stayed behind to show Deuce around.

"You'll have your own room while you're staying with us. After you're better, fed and not dehydrated anymore, you'll be expected to help out. But, really, it's just helping us if a storm comes. And since you were a medical student, you probably know enough to help, and Law will help you out when he can," Ace explained.

"Wait, I told you I'm no good at it," Deuce protested.

Ace looked at him in a calculating way. "Don't listen to what other people say. Especially when they're assholes. They'll lie to you for their own gain, or purposely rile you up till you're too angry to think straight. So, just try not to remember those dicks' voices in your head. Confidence is key in everything you do," Ace explained simply, remembering the bars when he was little.

It had been eleven years since he visited a bar like that, and he'd dropped and moved on from his father's name. Ace no longer cared, and no one knew who he was. It wasn't an issue for Ace, so he didn't think about it much. Didn't need to. Deuce looked shocked.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Ace wondered.

Deuce looked down. "You just seem to be happy with your brothers and crew."

"What, happy people aren't allowed to have been unhappy?" he asked skeptically, though not in a mean way. Deuce looked embarrassed. "Some people have bad pasts, but have moved past them. You can't do shit about your past, but you can do what you can to have a good future, right?" Deuce nodded silently, and Ace continued the tour.

Deuce ended up picking the bedroom next to Zoro's and furthest away from Luffy and Law's rooms. Probably because Luffy had shown him how noisy and silly he was. He might think Luffy was loud before bed or in bed. The truth was that Zoro was the noisiest. During naps around the ship, he was fine. But in bed, he snored horribly. That caused Jojo to move from her original room into another one. Deuce would find that out the hard way.

"We have three bathrooms, and one of them has a large bathtub. The other two have nicely sized showers. The kitchen is off limits to anyone, because Jojo is a control freak about it, and the lounge is open at any time.

"You might see Law around late at night sometimes, since he has insomnia and doesn't always ask Luffy for melatonin, but he minds his own business," Ace finished. "Oh, and be ready for Luffy to do the 'initiation'. It doesn't last long, so don't worry."

Deuce looked worried. "What is it?" Ace donned a shit-eating grin.

"You'll see soon. Go through the same pain as we all did," and he led Deuce to the galley. It was dinner time now, so Jojo was cooking already. There were many open spaces at the table, and the newby took a seat at the one on the empty side of the table.

Luffy was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, the others knowing he was watching somewhere. When he did, his eyelids didn't move at all, so he didn't seem to be dreaming.

Luffy's eyes were searching Whitebeard's ship for the traitor. He was a woman last time Luffy had seen him, so he'd be easy to see, given how male dominated the yonko ship was. He searched everywhere, including the brig, and did not find him. They must have killed him, which Luffy was happy about.

He couldn't help but want to touch the captain's face. He wouldn't, but he wanted to so badly! He wanted to be able to be Whitebeard! It would be awesome, to be so huge. Bigger than Katakuri, though he wouldn't fit on their ship.

The teen opened his eyes to refocus and then closed them, no longer focused on the yonko ship. Instead, he was observing Kaido's crew. It had taken hours of searching to reach Wano, but he'd wanted to know what Doflmanigo's secret partner looked like. He had been thirteen then, and was impressed with the yonko.

He drank all the time, and sometimes cried from it. And the people in Wano reminded Luffy of their own life, in poverty, hungry and without clean water. Kaido was ranting and drunk again, though Luffy didn't bloom an ear to listen. He was fascinated by the SMILE fruits, though he knew the majority had permanent problems afterwards. Man, he wanted Doflamingo framed and then to destabilize Kaido.

If he could, Luffy would destroy the SMILE factory and free the little people, but he couldn't do that with Doflamingo still free. Law woke him up by tapping him, and he was back at looking at his crew and family. Dinner was served, and he scarfed it down. Jojo had caught on real quick and didn't sit down to eat her own food until after Luffy got his second serving.

They asked Deuce some questions about himself, but he was pretty closed off, like Law had been in the very beginning. But look at him now! He was happy and healthy. Maybe Deuce could be that way, too. Luffy had a good feeling about him, he didn't know why. He did hope he'd stay, though.

Jojo was on watch that night, and would change shifts with Luffy, and Law was planning to spend it with him. With the crew getting bigger, there were less completely secluded places for them to go. The more that came would make their bedrooms the only real safe space.

He didn't give Law any melatonin because he would need to get up later. Luffy fell asleep easily, but did spend a while with his ear on the door of Deuce's new room just to make sure he was asleep. You could never be too careful.

When Jojo knocked on his door, he opened it, dressed warm and ready. Luffy knocked on Law's door, who clearly had not been sleeping. The circles under his eyes were prominent. "Goodnight," Jojo said quietly, and both nodded in response.

They held hands as they walked out on deck, Luffy swinging their hands. Law looked sleepy, but content. He unexpectedly picked Luffy up and shambled them up. "It's not hard to climb up, you know?" Luffy asked.

Law just shrugged. Luffy settled in his lap, chest to chest. "You watch for now," he mumbled against Law's chest, who wasn't wearing his hat.

"Okay, Luffy-ya," he said, and ran his fingers softly over Luffy's back. He was so much smaller than Law, and thinner. Despite being fit and strong, Luffy didn't look strong, or like a 16 year old. Deuce had asked for their age when he saw them being familiar and Law kissing his forehead. But Luffy liked being smaller than Law, he was easy to hold and didn't weigh much naturally when he didn't alter it.

"What do you think of Deuce? Think he's gonna stay?" Law wondered casually, still rubbing circles on Luffy's back.

"I think he could be cool, but I can tell he has some problems. He seemed kinda like you, but less angry. Like, you were so prickly and closed off at the beginning," Luffy replied honestly. "I"m glad you aren't prickly because I wouldn't be able to do this." He rubbed his cheek against Law's collarbone.

Law chuckled and replied, "I see it, too. He has low self-esteem."

Luffy nodded. Law leaned down and kissed Luffy's head. Then he froze. "Luffy-ya, your skin tastes like candy," he said and then started to laugh. How had no one noticed this yet? Luffy licked his own finger.

"I do! I taste good!" Luffy exclaimed. "But I've already eaten myself a lot. When I turn into candy or mochi. I like chocolate more, though. I'm tired of hard candy." Luffy was looking up, and Law kissed him. Though he did it slowly so Luffy could pull away if he didn't want to. Luffy tried to move his lips against Law's, but he wasn't very good at it.

Luffy just barely opened his mouth in the kiss, and Luffy tried to as well. The older licked his bottom lip. "Your mouth tastes good, too." Luffy's face turned red and he hid his hands in it, reverting to the giggling mess he'd been after their first kiss. Law chuckled. "You're adorable, Luffy-ya."

Luffy pouted. "I'm sixteen now."

"Doesn't mean you aren't cute. Deal with it, you're adorable without even trying. I love it. Love you," Law said with a warm grin. Luffy beamed too, cheeks red even in the moonlight. Law didn't seem upset he didn't say it back, since he was just so flustered. Law said he tasted good, it made him feel bubbly.

He looked back up and said, "I'm sorry I'm not good at kissing."

Law looked at him seriously. "You're perfect. There's room to improve on everything, anyways. Besides, I'm not used to it either. I get really nervous when we kiss, but I like it," the older said sweetly. "It'll be nice to learn together, right?" Luffy nodded.

He was quiet for a little bit until he said, "Will you ever tell me if I go too far with my powers? If I become too greedy?" Law frowned, and said that of course he would. Then he asked why. "Since that moment when I perfectly impersonated Doflamingo, I've been wanting to do that with other powerful paramecias. I could imitate any of the executives. I could imitate the Big Mom pirates, I could imitate Whitebeard, if I was stupid enough to do that. Just… thinking of all of the things I could do makes me feel power hungry. I don't want to be like that," he confessed.

Law was silent for a bit. "I could see how you feel that. Out of you three, your power is the most versatile. You can use multiple ones of them at the same time. Ace and Sabo can't do that. I feel that it's justified for you to want to grow more powerful. I want to be stronger, everyone here wants to be stronger. You just have so much room to grow.

"I don't ever believe you will become power hungry. Not in the 'bad' way. But yes, if I think you are going too far with your powers, I will stop you," Law said sincerely.

Luffy wasn't done, though. He had more to talk about. More to confess. "I… I really want to bring him down. All of them. I want to so bad, and it's all I can think about sometimes. Laying out blueprints of a plan. I… have such a good idea in my head, I want it to be real life. I want him to pay for what he's done. I want all of them to pay."

Law pushed a strand of hair out of Luffy's face, rubbing his cheek with his thumb. "I want to bring him down, too. I'm sure Ace and Sabo as well. It's not wrong to want to get even with someone who hurt you, hurt us. We just have to be committed to the consequences. A lot of things could go wrong in any situation. And the reality is that he could chase us forever. He doesn't age anymore."

"That's why I want to get him arrested," Luffy said strongly. "I want him to spend eternity in Impel Down. That place is horrible. I want him to go there. I've seen it, I've looked there before. A long time ago, but I saw how terrible it is. I want him to have the worst punishment."

Law frowned. "Why would you look there?" he wondered.

"Baby 5 told me about it a couple years ago. I couldn't help but look. And then there's another place, one that is a government thing-place that is over a waterfall in the ocean. It's always day time there, too," Luffy replied. "I… I could do so much with my powers. I could destabilize the world if I wanted to. But I don't want to do that. I'm not sure why Doflamingo didn't want to use my powers more." It was confusing. He was selfish, so why wouldn't he want to use Luffy's diverse powers more?

Law looked a bit worried. Luffy worried he was scaring him, but then Law gave him a comforting smile. "I don't know why he didn't. But we should be grateful he didn't. And now, you could use all of these abilities he didn't capitalize on and do some real things to this world."

"I have plans. I _will_ use them against him. He almost killed you, almost killed me, too. I'm still angry, I think I always will be," Luffy said in a strong voice. Law asked him his plans, so Luffy told him.

By the end, Law was both amazed and in shock. After all, Luffy had a simple mind, and he'd come up with a strong plan that could work. Luffy knew it was a good plan. He was positive. "We should only do that once we have more of our crew. And we're already allied with the Whitebeards. If anything happens, they might want to help us. That's only a maybe, but it's there nonetheless."

"You don't think I'm bad for that plan?" he asked quietly.

Law shook his head, and replied, "I think you're smart. I don't care about the Celestial Dragons. I don't care if they get murdered, brutally. I don't care if they go through hell from Doflamingo's powers. We've done bad things, but they have also. They deserve to die. I don't say that lightly, I think the world would benefit from their absence."

"Then it's like killing a bird with two rocks," Luffy said.

Law chuckled. "Killing two birds with one stone," he corrected. "And yes, that is what it would be." The conversation fizzled out until it was just them relaxing against each other while on watch. The silence was comfortable, the sound of the wind and waves dominating the space. When the sun rose, Law climbed down with Luffy hanging off of his back, instead of using his devil fruit again.

Luffy went running into the galley, shouting for food and waking everyone up. It was usual that this happened when Luffy had been on watch. Which was why it was best to have him take _first_ watch, but for some reason that rarely happened.

Deuce was there after Luffy, looking very awkward. "Oh, I forgot! You don't have a change of clothes. We'll have to go shopping, for now, put this on your head!" the youngest said, handing him a chip. And suddenly he was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. Luffy would have usually made the outfit something ridiculous or embarrassing, but he wasn't needlessly cruel. Deuce would hate him and be humiliated.

"Thanks…" he said, and sat at the head of the table while Luffy sat on the seat closest to the kitchen so he was served first. Two seconds before everyone else, but still first. Law had gone in his room to change while Luffy was fine being in his sleep clothes. They weren't getting off the ship anyways. "So, you can use all paramecia fruits?"

Luffy hummed and said, "A lot of them. There are so many that I only really focus on a few. And some are just stupid and not worth learning. Like turning yourself in a jacket so someone else can wear you. That's so stupid! But, I'm really good at sneaking around and spying on things and people. Sometimes I spy on the Whitebeards cause they're weird. I threatened them once, so they wouldn't come after us. I turned Marco into a woman and then a bunch of them into babies. It was so funny!" he said, and started cackling. Jojo chuckled, too, having heard the story.

"I also can use a different dimension! It's called the mirror world. I can enter mirrors and then go to other ones to go in those places. When we defected from our other crew, we headed from Dressorsa to Water 7 through the mirrors only I can access." He suddenly shot out a hand that stretched across the table and touched Deuce's face gently. "And I can do this!" he said, and then changed himself into Deuce, who looked shocked. "Don't worry, I won't use it," he added, and changed back to his normal self.

But the blue haired man seemed genuinely interested in Luffy and his powers. "What's the one you use most?"

Luffy thought for a moment. It would have to be the glare-glare fruit or the mirror world. They were both so useful. "Probably the mirror fruit and the one where I'm good at spying. Hey, Deuce, have you ever killed anyone?" he asked, changing the subject drastically.

"No," he said simply.

"Do you hate people who have?" he probed, growing worried Deuce wouldn't like them for the things they'd done and would do. But Deuce shook his head.

"I believe killing the innocent is wrong. But different circumstances, well, sometimes you can't help it."

"Oh. We've killed a lot of people," he said simply. "None were innocent, but we were really mean about it to those we think are enemies. We've done lots of bad stuff, so don't be put off by that, okay?"

Deuce looked uncertain but nodded. Jojo scolded him for making themselves look bad, willingly. "You grew up with ruthless pirates. What you do and have done is what you're used to. But I don't get any vibe from any of you, including Law, to hurt someone you care about. You seem to be abhorrent to the idea."

Luffy nodded. "Traitors are the _worst,"_ he said harshly. Law, Ace and Sabo walked in, with Ace's hair the wildest out of all of them, still looking sleepy. He had some toothpaste in the corner of his mouth. Law sat next to Luffy and took his hand. Luffy's hand fit perfectly into his, and he liked it.

Ace asked Deuce how he slept, and the newcomer said, "The bed was very nice. I wasn't expecting it on a pirate ship." Ace grinned and told him they spared no expense on the Fate. Deuce nodded, and said it was nice to have his own room.

"Yeah, when we grew up we shared a room, us four and two others, and then a younger child. It was crowded. So having our own rooms is nice," Ace replied, taking the pancake served to him and licked all of it, which everyone else did as well. Deuce looked at them strangely. "It's the only way to make sure Luffy doesn't steal your food."

He looked down to see his pancake was already missing. Jojo wordlessly got him another one, and Deuce had to lick it. He looked embarrassed to do so, though. The table was always loud at every meal, more so at lunch, though. Multiple conversations happened, and the table was usually full of laughter.

Ace watched Deuce closely, and he could tell that he was grudgingly enjoying it. He was also for a long time and his family was awful. Maybe he'd stay for good. He had a good feeling about him. He was strong, but seemed soft at the same time. Hopefully he wouldn't get overwhelmed if the four originals were brutal with some enemies.

Speaking of enemies, after lunch, when Luffy and Law were napping in the crowsnest, a ship approached them. A pirate ship. Their ship and crew wasn't well known yet, and not in the New World since they'd done nothing to bring attention to themselves there yet. It was smaller and not very threatening, with no cannons in sight. They had one, only on the front. They could all fend off attack and cannon balls easily. Plus, soon Luffy would be able to turn into his own cannon, using Baby 5's power.

The fight was longer than usual since the brothers didn't use their devil fruits, mostly haki covered fists. Zoro and Jojo used their swords, however. Deuce joined it and was quite powerful as well, some punches throwing pirates off of the ship and into the water. Law was using his sword, too, and he and Luffy kept sneaking glances at one another. It made Luffy laugh.

Once all of the pirates were dead or unconscious, they raided their ship for treasure. They didn't have much, but anything was good enough. They took maps, as well. They set fire to the ship easily, sailing away. Deuce looked a bit uneasy, but not offended or put off. Law noticed the look first but Ace was the one to say something.

"We're New World pirates, we can't afford to show empathy to enemies. Best to take 'em out when we can," he explained, clapping Deuce's shoulder. "If it truly bothers you, we'll drop you off on the next island. Okay?" The masked man nodded and agreed. Luffy grinned at him and used the bubbled power to clean his hands.

He cleaned the swords that had been used as well. Luffy beckoned Deuce over and washed his own bloody fists off as well. They were arriving at the island in two days, so Luffy was really excited, and he couldn't help but spread the contagious smiles. They all looked forward to heading the big city on one of the Whitebeards' islands. Meaning it would be safe for them with no marines or bad pirates.

Well, they were fine against enemy pirates and marines, even if they were there. Except for the higher up marines, like the admirals, vice admirals and fleet admiral, they would be able to fend anyone off well.

They weren't conceited when they claimed they were nearly undefeatable. They'd shown it multiple times just on Doflamingo's ship, once they were old enough to fight and lead difficult and unexpected battles. They definitely had room to grow, but they just didn't know how much. Especially now that Ace had developed a logia that did not exist before he discovered it. It excited the other two.


	17. Misunderstanding With The Whitebeards

**Giglio_nero: Lol, sounds about right!**

* * *

Ace was sitting in the crowsnest with Deuce for watch one night. "Ace, can I ask what your childhood was like?" he asked hesitantly. Ace looked at him instead of out on the horizon and was quiet for a moment.

"Sure. When I was five, I left the place that was raising me and went to live on my own. When I was six, I started going to bars and shady places to ask a demanding question that always made me really upset. They all called my father a devil, so I was a devil and didn't deserve to live. It really messed me up.

"Then I met Sabo when we were six and we started living together. He came from a noble family but he hated them and ran away. We lived in the forest for a year before we found Luffy. He was four and crying in an abandoned wagon in the woods. He was tiny and messy and starved. We took him in for pity to bring him back to town, but we got too attached.

"He was the light in our lives, and we couldn't let him go. It might have been cruel, to raise him in poverty since it wasn't safe for him to live in the forest with a ton of beasts and poisonous plants. That was a big part of the reason we joined Doflamingo when he found us. To give Luffy a place to stay, a bed to be on instead of a layer of cardboard boxes.

"While I hate what he's done, I can't help but be grateful for Doflamingo. He helped us control our devil fruits and gave us a home. It irritates me, but that's how I feel and I know how Sabo and Law feel," he finished. Deuce had listened quietly the whole time.

He asked, "Who was your father that was so hated?"

Ace looked at him calculatingly, making the other man look a bit uncomfortable. "If I tell you and you leave, I'll have Luffy wipe your memory of this conversation, okay? It's really sensitive information, but for some reason I feel like I can trust you... Can I trust you?" Deuce nodded and Ace sighed.

"My father was Gold Roger. I take my mother's last name, though I haven't said my full name in many years. Probably ten years. No one else on Doflamingo's ship gave their real name," Ace said, staring at Deuce, trying to search for any alarming reaction.

But he was just surprised. "That must be awful," Deuce said. "But does anyone else know?" Ace said Sabo did, but that was it.

"Portgas D. Ace, Luffy's is Monkey D. Luffy. He was four, but he had his name sewn into the shorts he was wearing. Nothing else about him, but he knew his own age. We made up his birthday for him," Ace explained.

"I promise on my life I won't tell anyone," Deuce said. It was a very serious promise that Ace didn't take lightly.

Ace asked, "So if you tell someone, I'm allowed to kill you?" Deuce grew pale. "That's why you should never make that promise, no matter if it's true or not. Some pirates will take that literally," the freckled teen said seriously. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. If you decide to leave, Luffy will just make you forget."

They were quiet for a while more, before they switched with Sabo. Deuce didn't seem afraid of Ace, so that was good. Should Ace have told him? He barely knew him. But he just had a feeling that Deuce was a good man. That might clash with the four, but he'd rather have good people on the crew opposed to killing, than a mass murderer who takes pride in who they kill.

When they arrived on the island, Luffy was ecstatic. Law didn't once complain with his energy, and when he kicked his legs while sitting on his shoulders. He did tell Luffy to sit up straight or he'd fall off. Luffy pointed out he wouldn't be hurt if he fell.

"It might hurt me," Law said simply. Luffy immediately stayed still, though his feet were still moving slightly. He had a ton of treasure in one pocket with food in the other. They hadn't been to a Whitebeard island yet, only ones protected by Shanks. Luffy had already locked the ship, and they were all getting off except Deuce. He was staying on watch, not really interested in leaving the ship.

Plus, he told Ace he wanted to be helpful for them for saving him. He still hadn't answered whether he wanted to stay or not, and promised that he would tell them before he left if he did choose to leave. They believed him.

They headed out in a big group, deciding to go to a nice restaurant for lunch. "If we like the food we can steal a cookbook again. That was fun," Luffy giggled. He was holding onto Law's sword as he held Luffy's legs in place. Law laughed and admitted that he thought it had been fun as well.

They passed a couple bars on a street, the sound of drunks and jerks echoing down the street. A pirate came out of the nearest bar, staggering and holding a knife, looking at them. None of them had fancy clothing, so they didn't look like they'd be good to rob. They ignored him completely, and luckily he passed out before causing them any problems.

The pirates did not want to get into any fights here, on a Whitebeard island, even if they were now allies. The city seemed to be very clean, and women walked down the streets alone. Which was crazy in the New World. Women, unless they were strong, did not walk in cities on their own. It was terrible, but it was the way of this sea.

They found a nice restaurant, and entered. "Table for six," Sabo said respectfully. Luffy was no longer sitting on law's shoulders. But the women declined them politely.

"Im sorry sirs, but your attire doesn't fit our policy. I'll save you a table if you want to go get changed," the patron said. Luffy pouted, but they easily accepted this and left, only to use Luffy's fruit and come back three minutes later, nicely dressed. They all looked much different in dress shirts and suits, but anything for delicious food.

The patron looked surprised at their speed, but didn't ask. She led them to a table near the window, and they all scooched into the booth. It was comfortable, and the place really looked beautiful inside. "We have to be on our best behaviour, okay?" Sabo said. When he was a noble, he knew this kind of place.

He pointedly looked at Luffy. "Promise to use utensils and have some manners?"

Luffy nodded, and they knew he wouldn't break the promise. It took awhile for their waiter to come, a woman in a nice dress, not over sexualized by a black dress reaching her knees. "What can I get for you, sirs?"

They all listed off the food, and they all came with huge sides, so they didn't order nearly as much as usual. They ordered wine, though Luffy wasn't allowed to drink it yet. Only once he was 18, they were insistent on it. But he said the smell was nasty in the first place. He ordered a large orange juice.

The food took a while to come, but they had expected no different. When it did come, they helped pass the plates down the table to the ones furthest to the server, and began to eat at a semi-reasonable pace. Luffy had trouble, frowning and going _too_ slow. He didn't understand how to eat politely and it was hilarious to the others.

Like the previous restaurant, they talked and laughed but it was not loud enough to bother other customers. It was nice, and the food was good. And when Jojo asked the patron for the ingredients for the dishes they'd had, she pulled out a pamphlet with the recipes of most of the dishes. Luffy was disappointed they couldn't steal a cookbook again.

It was a very peaceful, non pirate-like meal, and they left satisfied. They were going shopping for cleaner for Law, Zoro, and Jojo's swords to keep them in good shape while the other three went shopping for books. They didn't have enough books for the built in bookshelves in the lounge. They could all read, of course, but Luffy wasn't much interested in that.

Luffy just picked out random books that were colorful or had cool looking covers, while Sabo mostly went for history and science. Ace shoved tons and tons of comic books into a huge bag. They weren't going to steal them, there were just too many to carry.

When they went to the register, the poor worker had to ring up 326 items. Once they were all rung up and paid for, much of their on hand money had been swallowed up. Luffy shoved the four trashbags worth of books into his other pocket, crushing the food that the bags were now on top of.

They walked down the street a bit before Sabo stopped them. "What?" Ace asked. Sabo turned around, but saw no one.

"Someone is following us," Sabo said quietly. "Not too powerful feeling, but not some trash pirate." Luffy said they shouldn't pay attention to whoever it was.

"Remember, we're not supposed to get in any fights. It's a Whitebeard island. If they follow us, well, whatever. If they try to hurt us, we just break their legs or something and then keep going," the youngest offered. The other two knew that was right, and they kept going. But now Ace and Luffy were keeping track, too. Whoever it was wasn't stopping. They could tell it was two people with the same strength, or at least similar. "Why don't we try and lose them? We could always fly to the ship. It's far away, they won't be able to follow us."

Ace sighed, wanting to fight and not run, but Luffy was right. Both of the older brothers knew it. He shifted into phoenix form and Luffy and Ace each held on to one talon before Sabo easily lifted up and flew them back to the ship, where Deuce was waiting on deck. He was attempting to use Zoro's ridiculous dumbbell and was sweating profusely. When the three landed Deuce set it down, embarrassed.

"Isn't it crazy heavy? I can't even lift it," Luffy said. "Will you come help us put the books away?" Deuce nodded, and they headed to the locked door. Since Law wasn't there to make it the most convenient, Luffy opened a door with the fruit he rarely used, and let himself inside, where he undid the mochi and candy wall.

He opened the door and let the other three in. Luffy looked for Law with his glare-glare fruit and popped a mouth and ear on his shoulder. "We were being followed by someone, and flew back to the ship," the mouth said. Law wasn't bothered at all.

"Okay. We're almost done shopping and will be there soon," Law replied. Luffy let the mouth and ear disappear and watched as Law grabbed Zoro's scruff as he started to turn the wrong direction.

The four on the ship got to organizing the bookshelves, all 326 of them. Deuce was given a journal from Ace, and all of the others would get one as well. "What's this for?" the blue haired man asked.

"Luffy thought it would be a good idea to have everyone had journals. I don't know why, he doesn't know why. So, we bought them on a whim," Ace said, then turning back to shelving the books. He'd gotten over 100 comic books and so they were on their own shelf. There were still some empty spaces, but Luffy made wax figures to put in between them to make the shelf look fuller.

It was getting later and Luffy began to get hungry for dinner when Law called. "Law?"

"Yeah. We have a problem. Shut up, I'm taking you to get healed by Luffy-ya," and a dragging noise. "So, I got in a tiff with someone and swords were drawn. I cut him up and he cut me up. Then I found out the idiot is a Whitebeard commander. I'm bringing him back to the ship to get healed."

"WHAT!? We're gonna get killed!" Sabo shouted, overhearing.

Law protested, "It's his fault for following us and not giving his name!"

Sabo told him to just leave him alone and let his crew find him. "And let him tell them we attacked first? I got him good. Come get him before they find me out," Law said in irritation. Sabo sighed, and did so, storming out on deck and turning into a falcon to go get them. It was his largest bird form, though not his favorite.

He flew over and Law jumped on top of Sabo and the blonde grabbed the Whitebeard in his talons. "I trust you to make it back with Zoro!" Law called to Jojo, who nodded. Zoro was offended.

When they landed on the ship, Luffy was out waiting for them. It was getting darker and the sun was starting to set. Sabo dropped the man on the deck and Law dragged him to Luffy. They weren't being gentle or respectful at all, angry he'd been following them all day.

Luffy immediately started bawling his eyes out, and it was hard for his brothers and Law to remember he wasn't actually upset. Luffy rarely cried like this, anyway. He cried over the man, who was big-hair he'd saved that time a couple weeks ago.

The cuts across his chest and face were fixed, and he was just unconscious. "What do we do with him?"

Ace said, "I don't want us to take him back, they'll probably think he did something terrible to him. I didn't even know they were on this island." He was huffy. Luffy commented that he was the one he saved from the slimy-traitor-guy.

"I can call Marco to come over and get him. He can fly, too," Luffy said, his arms crossed. Big hair started to wake up. "Should we let him wake up?" Luffy wondered. He could inject enough melatonin in him to knock him out if need be.

Sabo was irate as well. "Let him wake up. If he tries anything, tie him up." Luffy closed his eyes and searched for the Whitebeard ship and found it at the dock on the other side of the island. He found them, grumbling about where the hell "Thatch" had gone. Possibly the name of big-hair. He formed a mouth on the wall next to Marco.

"Your guy followed us. Come get him, we're on the other side of the island," and the mouth disappeared. He saw everyone groan and Marco pinch the bridge of his nose. They saw Marco in the sky immediately, bright blue against the dark sky. He landed and found Thatch standing up and pouting.

Marco landed, and saw them for the first time in person. They were all tense, worried about what the pirate would do once they found out Law had beaten Thatch and Sabo had kidnapped him. "Thatch, what the hell were you thinking?" Marco demanded.

"I wanted to thank him for saving me…" he grumbled. Marco put his hand to his forehead.

"Well, you just pissed them off, well done," he spat. "We're leaving, they don't want us here." He didn't sound bitter over it. They had a tense relationship, both crews, after Luffy's attitude and actions while they were aiming to meet the four at the time.

"I cut him up a bit, since he wouldn't stop following us and he kept insisting on seeing Luffy-ya without giving his name. He's fine now," Law said, not going to lie or hide what had happened. Marco nodded, and apologized for his brother's idiocy. He grabbed Thatch by the ear, cheek having blood on it though the wound was gone.

"Let's go, dumbass," Marco said harshly to Thatch, who was pouting like Luffy, though not nearly as cute or powerful. He turned into a phoenix and picked Thatch up into his large feet.

"Thank you!" Thatch called as he was flown away. Luffy didn't respond verbally, just gave a single nod. He didn't know if the man could see him do it in the dark. Not long after Marco was out of sight, Jojo and Zoro were coming up the ramp. Jojo returned his sword. "Apparently, taking his sword as bait causes him to not get lost."

Luffy started laughing and pointing at his friend and crewmate. "Shut it! I don't get lost!" The others gave him a deadpanned look, and he scowled, stomping inside. They were about to head into the galley to have dinner, Jojo looking forward to putting her own spin on some of the dishes they'd had at the fancy restaurant, when the only den den they had started going off in the treasure room.

Ace picked it up, "Hello?" he asked slowly.

"I want to formally apologize for Thatch's behavior. He's not the most mature pirate, but he meant no harm. Thank you for healing him. We hold no grudge. He won't be following you again, though you may meet some of us in the city. Our crew is very large," the yonko said. Deuce, Zoro and Jojo were sweating profusely, so Luffy just gave them a single thumbs up, that they were fine and the Whitebeards weren't going to kill them. Wouldn't be able to.

Sabo replied, "Okay. Then this never happened?"

The den den nodded, and the captain apologized once more before hanging up. "We just had a conversation with Whitebeard, who apologized after Law attacked him…" Jojo said in disbelief.

Luffy chuckled. He guessed he was lucky he was bored that night and saved Thatch. "We got everyone some journals, and a couple cookbooks," Luffy said, completely changing the subject. Jojo perked up at cookbooks, and Zoro couldn't care less about either. Sabo noticed this and said, "Maybe you'd be more interested in a book about the history of sword fighting and their creations? Or do you really not like to read."

Any word with "sword" in it got the green haired man's attention in a second. "It's in the lounge. We bought over 300 books. It didn't look good empty."

After dinner, which was a new dish that, for the first time, Jojo did not master because she didn't think of how long it would take to prepare, they all headed to the lounge to see the huge wall of books. Zoro went for the sword book Sabo had told him about while the others besides Deuce, explored everything else.

During this, Ace took Deuce aside and into the hallway. "So, you stick'n around, or do you want to leave?" he asked quietly, so no one else overheard them. Ace kenw Deuce wouldn't do well with everyone focusing him on a big decision at once. The blue haired, possibly temporary, newcomer looked uncomfortable. "If you haven't decided yet, that's fine. Plus, if you don't want to get off on this island, we could take you to the next one," the co-captain offered.

"I like you guys as people, I just don't know if I'll make a good pirate. I was a failed doctor, not a brave sailor," Deuce said. "I'm not strong like you guys."

Ace sat down against the wall. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Luffy was pretty useless for around seven years on our own crew. He didn't fight, didn't want to, had other things he wanted to do. He was useless. But he still got along with everyone. Besides, you would be useful even if you don't want to fight.

"I'm not saying we can protect you at all moments, but you don't have to be a fighter. You can be the doctor soft-guy. If you want to leave, that's fine and you have that right," Ace finished, and waited for the other to respond.

"I do like you guys. I just don't know if you'd want to have me," Deuce said simply. Ace gave him a stern look.

He said, "If you join this crew, discard your past. You'll be having a new, different life. You already have a different name than before. And you'd have a different family. If you couldn't tell already, we're all pretty close. Even Jojo and Zoro and they only joined a month ago. Take your time to think about it and let me know tomorrow if you need an extension on your thinking. And you're not on watch duty tonight, so have a nice night. I need to go talk to Sabo about captain stuff. Goodnight," he finished with a bright smile, leaving Deuce in the hallway to his thoughts.

"Sabo, Luffy, we gotta talk," Ace said. Law was fine with not being included, and kissed Luffy sweetly goodnight. Luffy blushed and bit his lip before following Ace and Sabo to the galley. Sabo "awww"ed at the sight, embarrassing Luffy a bit.

"Little baby brother's all grown up," Sabo teased. Luffy hit him to get him to shut up, and he just laughed, completely unhurt. They all sat at the table, and Ace said, "We should decide on what to do about the Whitebeards."

Luffy furrowed his eyebrows. "They said they'd leave us alone," he pointed out. Ace raised one eyebrow.

"They said that once before already, and they didn't keep their word that time. Since then we've become allies, but there are hundreds of them on the ship. Any one of them could sneak off to come and see us. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want other pirates on this ship, even if they are allies." Sabo adopted a serious look while Luffy pursed his lips, not sure what to say. "And Law chopped Thatch up, surely some of them would be angry at that."

Luffy laid his head on the table. "We could leave the island," he suggested. "But that wouldn't be fair to Deuce, since he didn't get to go on the island today."

Sabo agreed with both sides. Deuce wasn't sure about staying yet, and disregarding his right to leave the ship would not be right and would be rude and insensitive. "Luffy, why don't you check in on what they're doing?" the blonde asked. Luffy nodded and closed his eyes, easily finding the Whitebeard's massive ship by following the coastline of the island.

He looked for the captain and saw him at the table with fifteen other people, counting Marco and Thatch. So, the commanders. He grinned, thinking about listening in on the meeting. He had to be careful, not get too close. So, he bloomed an ear a couple meters away from the opening to the air vent where the conversation would echo in.

"I just wanted to thank him!" Thatch protested.

"They are not friends to us. They're allies, not close to us but bound to help us out if we need it. You followed them, and honestly deserved to be cut up. They had no idea who you were. You could have, I don't know, _called_ them to thank him. We have communication set up with them. Calling would be much less annoying than following them, acting shady."

Thatch didn't reply, but a deeper voice Luffy didn't recognize said, "We're not going to retaliate from them slicing him up?"

Whitebeard's voice sounded, booming and stern. "We won't approach them. They already don't trust us thanks to our flimsy response to them not wanting to join or even see us. They didn't kill Thatch, even brought him to Luffy to be healed. They made up for a mistake and we're not going to make another one, ourselves. I know you think Luffy has been disrespectful, and he has, but he was also defending his and his friends' freedoms.

"We're not going to retaliate and we'll spend the rest of the time at the island _not bothering them."_ Luffy was glad to hear this. Once the meeting was dismissed with plenty of grumbling, Luffy made his ear disappear and opened his eyes.

"Captain said no one was allowed to approach us. We won't be bothered by any of them," he said simply. The other two sighed and smiled. They had been worried they'd lose their convenient relationship with the yonko.

All three of them went to bed, Luffy snuggling into his bed with extra appreciation of how warm and comfortable it was. He could hear the sounds of the city and the waves. Law didn't ask for any melatonin, which Luffy was happy for. He was happy to just sleep in peace.

The next day, Luffy was with Law, going on a "normal person" date. He was sitting on Law's shoulder as he ate a bowl of ice cream. Law was taking them to the park that they could see from the port, since it was on a hill.

Luffy leaned down and awkwardly gave Law a spoonful of ice cream, which Law had to tilt his head up and it was too impossible, so both of them fell over. Law's face turned red while Luffy broke out into laughter at the ridiculousness of it. But then he saw what was left of his ice cream. It was on the ground, and Luffy frowned deeply at it.

Law rubbed the back of his head and saw Luffy looking devastated about his inedible ice cream. "Wanna go get a replacement?" he offered and Luffy grinned and nodded. He didn't get back on Law's shoulders, instead having his arm wrapped around Law's waist and his head resting against his side

The older one looked so happy and so did Luffy. They came across some Whitebeards but didn't acknowledge one another. Luffy and Law were on a date and nobody better interrupt them. They got another thing of ice cream, this one bigger than Luffy's previous, of course. They sat at an outdoor table.

"Hey, Law? Would you rather have my, Sabo or Ace's fruit?" Luffy suddenly asked curiously. Law thought for a moment.

"While it would be awesome to change into a flaming phoenix or dragon, I'd be either you or Ace. Ace's powers are simple but powerful, but yours are so much more diverse. So, probably yours. Plus, I really like my fruit."

Luffy wondered why he mostly used shambles, takt and amputate, but none of the others. "Well, we haven't come across any enemies worth using stronger attacks. I'd rather use the ones that don't drain me excessively instead of the more powerful ones only a couple times," he explained. He had bought a milkshake that Luffy was eyeing even as he still had his own ice cream to finish. Well, Law got two straws for a reason.

After their day out, they headed back to the ship, Luffy wearing Law's spotted hat. When they got onto the ship, Luffy immediately saw Ace's scowling and looking at a piece of paper. Looked like a wanted poster. Luffy bounced over to him. "What's wrong?"

Ace handed him the four sheets of paper. Luffy took them and saw their bounty posters. The photos were the same as it had been, them at a younger age, but their names were different. It had their full names, "D." included. They even had Law's full name. But how did they get them? "How?" Luffy asked.

Sabo came over, also scowling. "Gramps is probably responsible for it."

"Gramps? Who's that?" Luffy asked.

Ace sighed and leaned against the mast. "He was my adoptive grandfather. He was your grandfather, too. We didn't trust him to tell you about it. Whoever he'd appointed had left you stranded in a wagon in the forest. And before he ever came back for a visit, we went off with Doflamingo."

Luffy was surprised, and Law as well since he was listening, too. "I thought you said you didn't have any family?"

Sabo said, "He was abusive and crass. We don't consider him family and didn't trust him with our devil fruits."

Deuce and Zoro had come over to listen, and Deuce asked, "You trusted random pirates more than your adoptive grandparent?" He and Zoro were both in disbelief, and it was justified. So Ace explained Garp's position.

"What do you think the marines would have done if they found out about our powers? We were already outcasts by just our last names, add those powers into the mix and we're demons with too powerful fruits. Pirates are safer than marines sometimes. That's the sad truth," the freckled teen finished.

The outside two nodded, understanding now. Deuce probably more than Zoro since he had been told already. Luffy turned to his partner and asked how to produce his last name. "Trafalgar."

"Tra… Toa… Torfga… Well, whatever, Law is better," he said with a shrug, making his brothers and Law laugh. Zoro shook his head and Decue just looked at him in very slight disbelief. "So, how do they know my name, though?"

Sabo put his chin in his hand. "The woman revolutionary knew your last name somehow. I don't know how or why she asked about you specifically, since she didn't mention me or Ace at all. I think she, or at least the revolutionaries, know something about Lu's past."

Sabo and Ace avoided the fact that Garp was Luffy's biological grandfather. At least, they were pretty sure. "Monkey D." wasn't exactly a common name. At least no one knew of Ace's real last name. Thank goodness or things would be more of a mess.

"Well, the bounties haven't gone up, only our names. What is Gramps thinking? After all this time _now_ he decides to step in?" Ace wondered, almost angrily. Sabo was thinking about something else. About the revolutionaries again. He was very uneasy and wanted to know why Luffy was mentioned specifically.

So, he asked, "Lu, do you think you could find the revolutionary's hideout and spy on them? See why they mentioned your name specifically? It worries me. We can't have pirates, marines and the revolutionaries after us."

Luffy nodded, and said he'd try. Law brought him to his room, turning the lights off and closing the curtains. He'd be in there with silence for a while, searching the New World for the place no one was able to find, no matter how hard they searched. Law closed the door and Luffy silenced the room before closing his eyes and seeing tens of thousands of feet in the air to look down.


	18. A Shocking Truth

**One more chapter after this one! This one has some new characters, but not too involved in the story. Enjoy~**

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vIt took him 7 hours, but it was quick compared to when he was a child and only had to search the North Blue, which was smaller than the New World. Had less islands. He recognized Dragon, the leader, out on the balcony. Luffy smiled, glad to see it. He unconsciously injected himself with adrenaline so he'd stay awake, as it was exhausting.

He didn't want to lose it, but he was starving, so he looked at which it was to find it tomorrow. He may not be good at learning the directions, but he could navigate the New World well with his glare-glare fruit.

When he got up, he headed to the kitchen to get leftovers since dinner had passed. He found Law in there, drinking a mug of tea. "Hey, Luffy-ya. How'd it go?" He was waiting for Luffy to wake up, and it warmed his heart.

"I found it. It's in the New World on the edge of the calm belt, just barely outside of it. I can find it again tomorrow, but I was too hungry to continue," Luffy explained simply, and headed to the fridge, making sure Jojo wasn't anywhere near, and took out the chicken and rice that had been made, eating the huge portion left for him to eat for dinner. He ate it cold just fine.

"Are you upset our names are out?" Luffy asked, mouth full but not spitting any food out. Law took a sip of his tea and shook his head. After all, nothing had really changed. Luffy nodded in agreement.

He thought about something, though. Wondering why it had happened. "Why do you think Ace and Sabo didn't tell me about their gramps? Is he my gramps, too?" he asked, sounding a bit sad. Law asked if they ever talked about their pasts. "No. They never talk about their lives before me. At least not when I'm in the room."

Law leaned forward. "I'm sure they have a good reason. You could always ask why. Maybe tomorrow morning? Ace and Sabo are on watch duty tonight, so you can't talk with them for too long." Luffy nodded, thinking he'd ask them tomorrow if they had time. They'd be leaving the island tomorrow. They'd explored and would stock up tomorrow before leaving to head to the next island, away from the Whitebeards. They hadn't approached them again, but still. They didn't like being on the same island much.

They were still wary of the response they were given after Luffy messed with them so much. Though they had agreed to be allies and Luffy had saved big-hair -Thatch. Still, the bond seemed fragile, at least to them.

When Luffy was done eating and Law's tea was gone, they both headed to their bedrooms, where Luffy stood awkwardly, face bright red. "What is, Luffy-ya?" Law asked. Luffy looked down and rubbed his toe on the wood floor.

"C-an we c-cuddle…?" Luffy mumbled almost inaudibly. But Law heard and blushed. He nodded, with a shaky, "Sure." Luffy beamed and ran into his room to change to his PJs in record time before hurrying back into Law's room. He was changed as well, wearing a tank top and sweatpants. He lied down first and opened the covers for Luffy, who burrowed under as well. He apologized in advance if he moved around too much.

"I can fix that," Law said in a shy voice, and draped an arm over Luffy's small form, completely wrapped around the smaller now. Law fell asleep quickly, Luffy following suit quickly as well. It was nice and warm, and Luffy didn't toss or turn while sleeping in Law's arms.

Luffy woke up first, disoriented at first, seeing he wasn't in his own room, but then he heard soft breathing and the arm wrapped around him, and remembered he'd spent the night with Law. His face flushed brightly, but he smiled widely, happy and warm.

Law didn't wake up too long after Luffy had, and he was just as red. Luffy turned around and kissed him, Law kissing him back. He started to pull away, but Luffy stopped him by putting his hand behind Law's head. Doing that made Law kiss him deeper, but not so much that it would make Luffy uncomfortable, though he was the one that kissed him first.

Law put his hand in Luffy's tangled hair and slightly opened his mouth to the kiss. Luffy tried as well, but felt he was doing a terrible job and pulled away. He hid his face in his hands. "I'm not a good kisser," he mumbled.

The older brushed Luffy's cheek, gently pulling his hand away from his face. "I'm the one who's drooling, Luffy-ya. I think we're both not too good. But we have room to learn, right?" Luffy nodded and giggled at the saliva on Law's chin, which he wiped at with his arm. "Maybe you should go to your room before Ace and Sabo wake up?" Luffy nodded, and opened the door carefully before tiptoeing across the hall quickly and entering his own room.

He changed into day clothes after bubbling himself up since he didn't feel like showering. It was convenient, but he usually enjoyed showers once he finally took one. Jojo was already cooking, with Zoro napping against the wall. Luffy walked over and tried to touch his sword, and Zoro's hand shot out to stop him. It always made Luffy laugh about how much he protected his swords, even in his sleep.

"Stop trying to touch my swords," he said in a bored voice, clearly not seriously angry. Luffy giggled, and said he couldn't promise that. Zoro sighed, and the other four came in. Deuce looked especially tired while Law looked the most well rested, which was strange to everyone. The normal bags under his eyes were lighter today.

Probably because he had Luffy with him. It made Luffy smile and blush. Ace turned a deadly gaze to Law and Luffy, who were sitting across from him. Luffy felt a trickle of sweat down the back of his neck. He knew Ace would be angry about them sharing the bed, even though it had happened before and all they did was sleep.

"So, when I walked back to my room from watch, I noticed something interesting. Luffy was not in his room, or anywhere else on the ship, and there were two presences in Law's bedroom. Care to explain?" Ace asked in a deadly voice. They were all surprised when Sabo defended the couple.

"Ace, they've known each other for years and Law clearly isn't going to do anything inappropriate. Sleeping together does not explicitly mean sex, you know. Stay out of their business," he scolded. Luffy and Law were hiding their faces from how red they were. The "s" word had been thrown around so carelessly.

Luff knew he didn't care about things like that, or even how it would happen between them. He just wanted to cuddle and kiss and hold Law's hand. He didn't know what Law expected from the relationship, but he didn't think about that much. He was positive Law would be good to him, and not pressure him into anything. After all, he hadn't done a single thing to pressure Luffy to love him like he had Luffy.

"But-!"

"No buts! If it makes Luffy happy to cuddle, do you really want to stop them?" Sabo asked, and Ace flinched. Of course he wanted Lu to be happy. He frowned, but didn't apologize, just shot a look at Law.

Breakfast was a little tense until Ace asked, "So did you find the revolutionaries hideout?" Ace asked after he filled in the other three, apologizing for not telling them the night before when they planned it.

None were bothered. Zoro said, "We all know you four are closest, grown up together and been through hardships. At least for me, I'm not bothered by that." He looked to Jojo and Deuce, who shook their heads, seeming fine with it as well. Ace and Sabo smiled. Luffy beamed, too.

"I did find it. It's far into the New World on the edge of the calm belt. I didn't go inside, I was too tired. But I'll do it after breakfast." They now knew information that the whole World Government wanted to know. But none of them would tell anyone. They were enemies of the World Government and marines. They'd never spill any information about their enemy.

Breakfast wasn't tense anymore, and they talked about how they would be leaving later that day. Deuce had gone onto the island when Luffy and Law had their date, so they had all spent time on the island. Now that was left was stocking up water and some food. They'd raid some trash bins as well for Luffy to turn into food.

They were also getting supplies in case the ship was hurt. Now they just needed another navigator and shipwright. That would bring them to nine members. They'd have three open bedrooms. They were never wanting a big crew, but a close knit one that could protect one another. Zoro and Deuce were both powerful with their strength, while Jojo was more graceful and faster when she fought.

While his brothers and crew planned on how to restock, Luffy went to his room, turned off the light and covered the porthole, laid down and closed his eyes. He was back looking over the ocean, and searched in the direction he knew he'd headed to the day before. He always started out facing the same direction, so he only needed to know right, left back and front.

He made his way forward and to the left, heading towards the calm belt at an amazing speed before finding the island hideout. He looked in closer, heading inside to take a look and explore. Over his practicing, he'd been much better with using hands in far off places. Not quite to the East Blue, the furthest blue from the New World, but the New World and most of the grand line were easier.

He looked through the halls, seeing many people he didn't recognize. As a pirate under Doflamingo, they knew the major contenders for the revolutionary army. Mostly Ivankov, whose power was freaking hilarious to Luffy (he loved turning men into women to see them freak out), and of course, Dragon.

He didn't see Miss Revolutionary anywhere, but saw there were many children behind the main building, which was dug into the rock mostly, being trained. He searched for the room that belonged to paperwork and important information.

It was in a guarded room that was locked, which was lucky for Luffy. He managed to form a clone in there, and pulled a chair under the locked doorknob before searching through documents in many filing cabinets.

He searched for a good twenty minutes, scanning for his name quickly. He found nothing even related to him, not even the newspapers talking about him, or his wanted poster. But they knew his name, they had to have some information somewhere. He'd search as best as he could.

Just as someone started to try and open the door, Luffy's clone disappeared, and he went back to using the glare-glare fruit to search through the halls and then bedrooms. At the end, there was a large room that he assumed was Dragon's. When he entered, he formed another clone and carried a dresser in front of the door silently.

Luffy was starting to get tired of using all of these powers at a distance. His clone searched through any cabinets, through the desk. He made sure to keep things neat, not that anyone would know who had searched. He'd made sure there were no camera den dens in either room.

He finally found a loose floorboard that creaked when he stepped on it. He easily pulled it up and found a journal of some sort. He still hadn't found anything about his full name, and didn't really think anything would be in the journal, but he found there were photos, personal photos.

He found pictures of some woman, vice admiral Garp, for some reason, and a couple animals that seemd like pets. He found a section with many photos of a baby, and wondered if it was Dragon's kid. As he was starting to fatigue, he pulled the baby photo out and looked at the back, only to drop the photo.

" _Luffy's first bath."_

His clone's face and own face turned white. He dug through more of the photos, and found more and more photos of him, but was a tiny baby. The only thing that looked similar was the hair and brown eyes. What gave it away were the captions on the back, all having his name. It had to be a coincidence.

So he searched the room for a birth certificate, not sure if there would be one, especially here. He wasn't even being neat anymore, ripping open files for them until he found an old, tattered sheet of paper that was a brownish color.

"Monkey D. Luffy/ Born May 5, 1722, 12:26 AM/ 5.1 pounds/ mother" the name was scratched out and father was as well. Just him having this meant it was true. When he heard footsteps on the other side of the door and someone tried the lock. Luffy's clone popped away, though he kept watching. He had a serious headache now.

He watched as Dragon entered the room, pushing aside the dresser in a hurry, before he saw the mess of paperwork and damning evidence of Luffy's existence and relation. His face hardened and he put everything away before storming out to interrogate everyone. Luffy opened his eyes, pressing a hand to his forehead.

That was definitely _not_ what he was expecting he would find. He assumed it would be information about his devil fruit, his time as a pirate under Doflamingo. Not fucking baby photos and a birth certificate! He sat up and sighed, shaking his head. He waited for the headache to subside a bit before he left the room, a blank face on. He didn't want to admit it, but he didn't trust the others with this information. Only his brothers and Law.

Luffy found them in the lounge, they clearly have been done with planning on stocking. "Ace, Sabo, Law, I need to talk to you," he said in a tired voice. He didn't know what to think, or what they would think. The three heard the tone of his voice and got up in worry. Luffy led them to his room, and they sat on the bed.

"Well, I found out how they know my name," he said simply, voice a bit higher than usual. "I dug through all of their files and documents in the information room and Dragon's bedroom. There was nothing, but I opened a floorboard and found a journal. There were photos in it with captions. They were of me. I dug through more files before I found my birth certificate. I'm positive Dragon is my biological brother."

The other three were in silent shock until the room was full of shocked exclamations. He grabbed his head from the loud sound, and they quieted. Ace was in more shock, thinking of the insanity that he and his brother had such people as their fathers. The pirate king, and the most wanted man in the world.

Luffy sat on the bed between them. "What should we do?" he asked. Law put his arm around Luffy's shoulder and pulled him down to kiss his head.

Sabo sighed and leaned back until his back was flat on the bed, legs still over the side. "There's nothing we can do. We can't tell anyone about this, and I don't think it's safe for us to reveal we know that huge secret, along with where their base is. They might target us. Who knows if Dragon cares that much about you to put family before work?"

Luffy wasn't put off by his wording. He didn't care much. Well, he did care, but he wasn't hurt by Dragon's absence in his life. He didn't mind, he wouldn't have found Ace and Sabo, and then Law, if Dragon had been there to raise him. Whoevers hands he'd ended up in, surely they couldn't be one of his own family.

Who left their four year old on a wagon in the woods for animals to get? He still didn't know who'd done that or why. Probably because he was annoying, but who knows? He was glad Dragon abandoned him so he could find his true family and the man he loved. Even if it turned him into a criminal, who could be cruel sometimes for fun, he still was glad he had been on that ship because of where he was now.

The new information was shocking, but it wouldn't change his lifestyle. Besides, Dragon was a huge criminal as well. Bigger than anyone else, Luffy's record paled in comparison to the government and marines.

They all promised not to tell anyone this information, and Ace started to worry about the fact he told Deuce about his heritage. Why had he done that? He might have had a good feeling about him, but that didn't mean he should have shared sensitive information about that. He couldn't explain it and now regretted it.

When they left the room, planning on heading out to restock, Luffy was the one to stay behind and guard the ship. He wanted to know what was going on at the hideout. Despite the headache he knew he was going to have, he did one of the most difficult moves of any of his fruits. He closed one eye to use the glare-glare while the other would stay open and aware of his surroundings.

It was painful in the end, but he couldn't wait. And when he was like this, he couldn't use his other powers at the same time. Which meant he'd be unable to listen to what was going on, only see.

He painfully headed out to the hideout, sight going there rapidly from where Luffy's body was stationed. When he arrived, he went back inside to see Dragon in a meeting with some top officials. Ivankov, Inuzuma, Karasu, Belo Betty, Morely and Lindbergh. Of all of them, he only used Inuzuma and, of course, Ivankov's powers. The others he deemed unnecessary and not important to learn.

He couldn't help himself, and forced himself to bloom an ear in the vent of the ceiling. He was breathing heavily, the act taxing him quickly. But he wanted to hear. "-saying a rookie broke into your room?" Ivankov asked.

Dragon responded and said, "I do. There's only one who could break into the room without opening the door. The window wasn't open either. We don't know the extent of his powers, but he no doubt is powerful and resourceful."

"Why did he break into your room?" Inuzuma asked.

"I don't know. There were no important documents in there, but Koala reported disturbance in the filing cabinets. I don't know what his motive was. Perhaps asking what his last name was was not a good idea." Luffy was surprised that he was lying to the bigwigs. Did they not know of Luffy's _real_ relation with Dragon?

Was he angry at Luffy for doing that, since he clearly knew who it was that pulled it off. "Should we go after him?" Morely asked.

"No. I don't think we should focus on him right now."

"But he knows of our hideout," Belo Betty pointed out. "Should we find and kill him? It's important information, you know."

Dragon responded calmly. "Killing him would make our cause seem bad. He's a pirate, and we don't deal with pirates, we deal with the World Government. Unless he started terrorizing innocent citizens, we have no qualms with him or his crew. They have left Doflamingo, and that is good.

"After all, Doflamingo is directly linked to the Celestial Dragons. They shouldn't have such powers as those three in their arsenal. So far, on the islands they have visited from Water 7 to their current place in the New World, they only attacked threatening figures or marines," Dragon said.

Inuzuma pointed out, "I heard he turned some of the thugs from Water 7 into women." Belo Betty and Lindbergh broke into laughter. Even Ivankov chuckled. Luffy couldn't hold it anymore and opened his other eye, making his ear disappear.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. He was drained now from that. No matter the practice he'd tried back at the castle, it hadn't gotten any easier to only use the glare-glare fruit with one eye. He stood up and grew dizzy, vomiting over the side of the ship. He hoped they'd come back soon.

But, some pirates on the dock saw him, and saw him looking weak and unstable. He sat down on the deck, back against the railing again. He didn't even stand up when someone tried climbing over the side. He shot a bullet string through the guy's head, killing him. He heard the others shout, no surprise, and start coming on board. Even feeling sick and weak, they were no match for Luffy. He didn't even stand up.

He was sure these guys wouldn't be doing this on a Whitebeard island if they weren't stupid. Luffy got up and walked to the other side to see many pirates, all angry and wielding weapons. He sighed, deciding to wipe them out at once. He shot spikes of rock hard candy at all of them, skewering them easily. They dropped to the deck, and Luffy got off the ship and created wax balls on their feet, only to kick them into the water and clean off the bloody deck with the bubble power. The dead pirates sunk into the water, never to be found again.

He slowly got back on their ship, and waited impatiently until his crew arrived with large barrels of water, bags of trash, and certain ingredients Jojo asked for. The moment they set foot on the ship, Luffy headed inside to sleep the headache off.

Law followed him in worry, opening the bedroom door when Luffy closed it just barely. Luffy fell asleep the moment he reached the bed. Law didn't wake him since it was obvious he was sleeping, and just tucked him in instead, taking off his sandals.

They said goodbye to the Whitebeard protected island without notifying or addressing the yonko crew. And they didn't try to contact them either. The Freedom Seekers were not a very friendly crew to outsiders. None of them. Even Jojo was brat to outsiders. Deuce was mostly a silent jerk, even though they were all kind to one another on the crew. They were fairly sure they wouldn't be a crew that makes a lot of friends. It didn't matter much, they were strong, and the last choice, they had a yonko crew to help them. All because Luffy was bored but decided to make one true act of kindness for someone he didn't even know.

-x-

Luffy laid beneath Law, on his comfortable bed while the bigger looked down at him with such love. Luffy blushed at the sight, and he leaned down to kiss him. If Ace saw it, he'd be _really_ mad, even though they didn't go any further than kissing, and never rough kissing.

Even though Luffy was very powerful, Law treated him like he was glass. It was different than a few months ago, when they were still under the umbrella of "care" by Doflamingo, when Law would hit him or be rough with him. Law said a lot of things changed for him, and this was one of them.

Luffy still wanted to spar with him, and he did, but it was never the goal to hurt or win over the other person, it was to practice their powers and grow stronger.

Over the last month, Law had improved leagues over what he'd been under Doflamingo. Ace mastered his new water logia, Sabo was finally able to use all of the mythical and ancient zoans, though most of them would be useless to him. No matter what he learned, the phoenix power was still his favorite. Deuce had grown more skilled with armament haki and could now punch a ship to pieces.

He'd decided to stay right after the island the Whitebeards protected. He stayed for Ace, who he pledged to serve under. Ace had made sure that Deuce knew he wasn't a tool, and he had his own free will. Deuce insisted that he'd serve under Ace forever, and no one could convince him otherwise.

Jojo had learned haki from Zoro, extending the haki to their swords. And Luffy had been working towards his ultimate goal. Take down Doflamingo. The ideas had planted themselves in his mind and were staying there no matter what he did. He slowly was mastering the executives. In his plan, though, it only involved Doflamingo's powers. Still, he wanted to know he was stronger than the executives.

Baby 5's power was easiest to learn after he somewhat got the hang of it. He'd changed his body into many different shapes with the mochi power, all he had to do now was make them fire. His brothers didn't know his secret obsession. Law didn't even know. He kept it all to himself, and worked towards that goal alone. He felt like he'd never truly be free if he didn't take revenge on Doflamingo for breaking his heart.

It was silly, to most people. But Luffy treasured family, so having him spit in his face had enraged him like nothing else. And since Luffy didn't get outwardly enraged, he mostly cried angry tears, even when he wasn't sad. It was embarrassing, but he couldn't change it. It had always been that way.

Of course, his plan wasn't involving him alone. Ace and Sabo had roles in it, they just didn't know yet. They also didn't know Luffy spent much of the night _not_ sleeping, but doing his research. Spying on all sorts of people throughout the New World and Paradise. The revolutionaries had bored him since they did basically nothing.

Instead, he'd followed the strings Doflamingo laid out all over the sea. Stetching from Wano to Marygeiose to Marineford. He even did his research on the inner workings of Impel Down. He knew what would happen to the asshole when he got there. And he would get there, no matter what. Boiled in water and starved. He'd lose that rich, pompous life that he'd gotten used to in Dressrosa. It would all be over.

"You okay?" Law asked. Luffy was brought back to the moment.

"Y-Yeah. I got distracted," Luffy replied. Law smirked.

"Should I be offended that you got distracted while I was kissing you?" Luffy giggled and leaned up to plant a sweet kiss on Law's smile. Luffy stomach grumbled, knowing dinner was soon. Law got up and sat next to him.

Luffy looked to the other and said, "Law, you're really cool." Law laughed, and Luffy grinned. "You're super strong and look really cool. And you never get irritated during any battles," the younger listed off. Law ruffled his hair, messing it up even more than it already was.

"Well, we haven't encountered any actually strong people. We've avoided the real baddies, sadly. It's so disappointing." Luffy laughed, and started to get up before Law took his wrist. "Will you ever tell me what you're constantly thinking about? I won't tell anyone else," he said sincerely. Luffy lost his smile. He thought he'd been hiding it well.

He was worried his family would think that he was messed up, only focusing on revenge and not really what was happening from day to day. That was part of why he wanted to do it already, so he could move on from his obsession. Luffy swallowed, but saw the completely earnest expression.

"Promise you won't tell anyone else?"

"I swear." Luffy believed him.

Luffy sat back down, hunger forgotten for the moment. "I have an unhealthy obsession," he began. "I've been making plans for the past month or so. It involves everyone here, but I'm worried that you'll all think I'm crazy, or wrong."

Law gave him an encouraging look. "I want to take down Doflamingo, and I have it all planned out. It involves everyone, not just me. I've been doing research every night. Watching important players. Doflamingo is involved with the underworld, but it's more than we thought. Under the colosseum, he's making fake devil fruits for the emperor kaido. There's an island east of Dressrosa where someone named Caesar is helping to make the fruits, called SMILES. They give them to Kaido in protection, and he gives them to his subordinates.

"It won't leave my mind. It… hurt me a lot, what he did. I know everyone knows about it, and I think have moved on. I haven't, I want to. The only way I can move on is to get it over with," Luffy explained. "I know everything. I know his past, I dug through Corazon's things, found a diary of what had happened in Doflamingo's childhood. He was a Celestial Dragon, and the World Government gives him power so he doesn't blow some lid on them."

He looked up slowly, worried he'd freaked Law out, but he just looked serious. He didn't think Luffy was crazy or evil. He was hurting, and wanted to get better. "Why have you hidden this, Luffy-ya? If it bothers you so much, why did you hide it?"

Luffy looked down again. "You're all so happy. I don't wanna mess that up." Law stood up and cupped his face.

"We're only happy if you're happy, too. You're so good at hiding everything. You shouldn't, we're family. I think we should tell Ace and Sabo. I really do," Law said emphatically. "They're your precious brothers, and you're their irreplaceable younger brother. They want you to be happy. Please, tell them. If you don't, then I won't either. I swore to you I wouldn't tell anyone else, and I'll keep that promise, like you always have." Luffy had tears in his eyes, and Law wiped them away with his thumb. He took his hat and gave it to Luffy, who held it to his face.

Whenever Luffy was upset or embarrassed, Law gave him his hat to hide his face in or wipe his tears. Luffy nodded. He would tell Ace and Sabo. it would only work if they helped. He hoped they would. "Let's go tell them," and they left the room, Luffy's hand shaking in Law's. He was afraid of what his brothers would say.

He was always the youngest, the nice one of the cruel three of them. And here he'd been plotting something that would cost lives for his plan. Not people that anyone would miss, though. But still. Maybe they'd think he was conniving, or evil or something worse.

He was quiet when Law entered the galley, finding Sabo sitting at the table and Ace on the wooden floor against the wall. When both of them saw Luffy, face hidden and hand shaking, they got up immediately. "Luffy has to talk to you two," he said quietly. The two hurried over, following Law and Luffy to the lounge. It had to be strange since they'd become much more open with the crew.

But this was something between brothers that no one else should be in on, even Law. He led Luffy into the room and closed the door after both brothers had entered as well. Luffy was holding Law's hat to his chest. "Lu, what's the matter?" Ace asked, taking Luffy's shaking shoulders.

"I-I gotta tell you something."

-x-

"I don't like this," Luffy pouted, sitting against the wall of the cabin on the outside of the ship. Sabo was sitting next to him, and ruffled his hair.

"That just shows you're nothing like him, right? Besides, for it to work you have to master this one. You already figured out the birdcage, but this is a signature move. You have to learn it. No one thinks you will hurt us or make us do something bad," Sabo insisted.

Luffy sighed, but knew he was right. But he wouldn't make them do anything cruel or painful. "Just, try not to make us look like fools," he said with a wink. All five of the others were standing in front of him, while Sabo sat next to him.

They put a hold on their adventure and finding more members to pull this off as soon as possible, for Luffy's sake. Luffy felt shame when he tried to make his family walk around the ship, it made his fingers cramp, and he could only control one at a time. None of them were armed, but he made them swing their arms around.

It lasted around twenty seconds before he stopped, putting his head in his hands with his knees up to his face. "I don't wanna do that anymore. Don't make me," he lamented, feeling such shame. Ace sat next to him.

"C'mon, Lu. You have to. Just like I have to learn how to use my magma and water at the same time without hardening. And Sabo has to learn how to only cover some of his dragon body in flames." Luffy pointed out that they weren't hurting anyone. "How about this? Next pirate ship we find, practice on them."

That idea was much better than controlling his brothers. They weren't puppets, unlike the king had been for Doflamingo those years ago. Luffy wasn't that evil. But, then again, he was planning on doing that to many people. But these didn't deserve pity or sympathy. These were sick bastards that the world wouldn't miss. "Ok, that's a better idea," the youngest said, instantly more happy.

"Why don't you move onto practicing the combinations? You have to use six in rapid succession. Let's focus on that?" His brothers were so understanding, he couldn't believe that he'd hidden it from them for so long. And they agreed to his plan with just a few small tweaks. For once, he felt like the smart one. It was nice, but felt unnatural.

He was terrified of messing up, but at the same time looked forward to it so much. He couldn't wait. It was a combination of conflicting feelings, but they were what was going through his head.

"Now, let's practice again."


	19. Revenge

**Last chapter! Enjoy~**

* * *

A black dragon twice the size of the Whitebeard ship flew through the sky, heading towards where he knew the island was. He could smell it, and it reeked. This was his part of the plan, and Sabo would pull it off to free his little brother from his daily burden. He was the only one here, but Luffy would be in the most dangerous position.

But he believed Luffy could do it, could pull it off. He just couldn't afford to get caught. Ace should be entering the SMILE factory at Dressrosa right now. Sabo didn't think about it, just flapped his huge leathery wings. He flew for miles, far from where the ship was strategically placed.

It got colder as he got closer to the mess of an island, where someone was hiding in plain sight, bending on Dolfamingo's every whim. A sycophant, one that did whatever the warlord did. Sabo was not going after him, he was destroying the base, and everything in it. The marines would apprehend the gas gas man eventually, most likely after the title is seized from his master.

He approached the cold side of the island, flying around the hot side, careening in the air like a graceful bird instead of a 150 ton beast. Since it was so dangerous and uninhabitable outside, he saw no one and nothing. Ace would be the only one who could live on this island, being made of both fire and ice. He landed on a wide open space in front of the building hiding many secrets. There were people inside, but Sabo wasn't there to save anyone. He was there to destroy this base and head back to Dressrosa to pick up Ace after his work was finished.

Sabo coated his tail in haki, while also dousing it in phoenix flames. Despite the practice, it was still difficult. His tail was armored and covered in spikes. A few strikes into the building and it would be in shambles.

He leaned back like a cat ready to pounce and flew up into the air, heading straight forward to the huge marine base, and turned suddenly, swinging his tail inwards, still keeping it covered in armament haki with the flames there to heal. He slammed it into the building, creating a huge hole and sending some of it into the ocean with a massive "crack" noise. He flew another lap around the island, surveying it.

The base was harder than he thought. And it hadn't damaged any of the inner workings of the buildings. The plan was going to be a bit different. He flew back towards the target, slowly shrinking himself down smaller. Small enough to fit inside the hole, but still big enough to cause serious damage to anyone or anything in his way.

He flew into the hole, and widened his wings, covering them in haki as it brought stairways and railings down. Doors were blown open, and he blew fire below him. The SAD liquid was flammable, so he had to light fire to it while still getting away fast enough.

Panicked goat-humans (he didn't think twice about it, he had a mission) shot shotguns at him, but they did nothing. He sensed a stronger presence, but it wasn't his job to fight the man. Just destroy it and head back to Ace. He was instrumental to the plan so he could get Ace out of there before anyone found out he was there in the first place.

Sabo found the tanks by bursting through two ceilings. No one was in there, and he got rid of the phoenix flames and thickened his scales with haki, raising and moving them in a way to cover the underside of the scales in haki as well. It was time consuming, but he did it, and smashed a hole in the ceiling for him to escape from. He didn't want to get trapped in the fire and have the ceiling fall on him.

He blew fire on the SAD tanks, all of them. They were well sealed, so Sabo smashed them open with his tail. He propelled himself up through the hole as the base exploded, taking anyone inside with it. The fire licked at his tail and back of his hind legs. The flames licked over them and healed him.

He was breathing heavily, and circled the island two more times. Making sure all of the tanks had been eradicated and their precious liquid evaporating or soaking into the floor and cracks. This base would no longer be in operation. He'd taken it out and it would stay that way. For good measure, he blew one more burst of fire, igniting whatever wasn't already burning.

His flames weren't like Ace's. They were distinctive, but Ace had control over his flames. Sabo could only point in one direction and send them that way. He couldn't manipulate them on his own, just hoped they worked the way he wanted them to. After being satisfied with the complete wreckage he'd caused, he let out a roar in triumph and grew in size again before starting the 3,000 mile flight to Dressrosa. His enduirance had to hold so he could get Ace and then get back to the ship.

He could do it, he was certain. But he would change into his fastest bird form so it didn't make him lose any strength and would give him more endurance in the long flight. He was coming for Ace, and then they'd wait for Luffy to succeed in the most important part.

-x-

Ace confidently walked through the SMILE factory underground in Dressrosa. It had been a long time since he came here, and hadn't even known there was a huge underground area. They'd known Doflamingo dealt with weapons, but they never knew this was there. It just showed how little trust any of them had had in the brothers and Law. Didn't even tell them about something this important.

And something Luffy had noticed when finding the right mirror was that the underground area had no mirrors. He was only able to force Ace through a very reflective surface. It had never been done before but was necessary.

The Doflamingo pirates took precautions by limiting the amount of mirrors. But Luffy knew what mirror he'd be using, so Ace wasn't worried about him at the moment.

"Hey, you new here?" someone asked him suspiciously, even though he was in their uniform completely.

"Yeah. Doflamingo-sama replaced me with Harold, since he got in an accident earlier today," Ace said smoothly. Harold, who they'd been spying on, and the accident, that Ace had caused. "Harold is resting at home. Don't worry, I'm fine to work in his place."

Jensen, this man's name, believed him. He was gullible, which they'd planned on. Luffy had the basic plan, but it was too raw and dangerous, so Ace and Sabo edited some of the details. Ace walked down the halls and up the staircase, following the mental map. Luffy had observed the area with his glare-glare and then projected that in Ace's mind, as a map he'd never seen before but knew perfectly.

He entered the forest area, and saw some guards hurting the little people working there. It wasn't his job to save them, they were naive idiots, even more gullible than Jensen. By far. But, he didn't want to kill them.

"Oi, shift change," Ace said to one of the workers terrorizing the little people. It was time for the shift change. Part of the plan. The man didn't ask him who he was, so he was more of an idiot than Jensen.

Ace waited for the man to be gone before he turned to the little people. "You are being deceived by everyone here. Your princess is not sick. I'm going to blow this place to pieces, so try to get out before then," and he created a stairway made of ice, just big enough for the little people.

He inched magma up the wall and it burned a hole through the glass of the roof, burning a small exit. The walls were made of sea stone, so he could do nothing about those. The little people started screaming, and Ace snapped at them to be silent. "I'm not a saint, if you aren't all out of here in time, you'll die. Go as fast as you can and don't be caught again!"

Ace went to the first tree as the last of the little people got out of the hole. Ace didn't care about any people or toys that would get caught in the blast of the factory exploding. He didn't care about anyone here. All he cared about was his crew, and he wouldn't let them or Luffy down.

He released magma and burned the trees, burning through the stone floor and seeping into the lower levels. When someone came out, Ace let out water while still covered in magma to show as a steam cover. It mingled with the smoke well. People screamed at the fire already burning most of the trees away, the SMILEs unable to be eaten by anyone.

People, workers, started running out to try and put out the fires even as the building filled with toxic smoke. Ace released the magma just as his skin started to harden from the water cooling it. He blended in with the smoke and took out anyone that came near.

There was a fire in the factory, nothing more, nothing less. There was no Ace there. No one would call and report his presence. As long as he hid in plain sight, he would be safe for now. Once he had taken out everyone who'd tried to put out the flame, Ace filled the building to the brim with magma, sealing any entrance off from someone coming inside. The door to go outside was melted and useless, trapping anyone in and everyone out.

As the building grew full of smoke, Ace easily rocketed himself to the glass ceiling and melted it before climbing out, covered in the smoke seeping out behind him. People started to run to the buildings, and Ace dripped magma down one side so no one gathered there, where he dropped down soundlessly, landing gracefully on the uniform boots.

"Help! There's a fire! You, toys, help!" Ace demanded, faking again. Sabo was lucky, he didn't have to pretend for anything. Ace had to act worried and frantic when he was having fun destroying things. He really did have the blood of a demon in him, didn't he?

Toys gathered, humans gathered, and all tried to put out the fire that would not go out as long as magma was in there. And the magma had no way to escape. In the end, the factory was destroyed, his mission was over. Now he had to finish strong. In the crowd of people, he ran towards the port, and got on a rowboat he'd made sure was there, and rowed himself just outside of view from the inside. Sabo would easily see him. He should be back soon, if things were going to plan.

He hoped Luffy was doing alright. Law better be there to help him.

-x-

The moment Luffy let Ace out into the factory, he and Law headed to where they needed to be. Law was there to support Luffy emotionally since he was stressed beyond belief. He knew he could do it, but at the same time was terrified he'd let everyone down after making them do this.

There was a time limit, so he got to work immediately. In the mirror in Doflamingo's room, he had his hand out and created a large door in the air, forming arms beneath the bed to buck Doflamingo into the dimension while he was still asleep. Luffy bloomed a hand over his mouth as he fell into the door dimension, which Luffy immediately closed, sealing his target somewhere he couldn't possibly get out.

"I'll see you at that mirror. Good luck, love you. I know you can do it," Law said, and Luffy slipped out of the mirror. He changed himself into Doflamingo, putting on the signature clothes and sunglasses, grabbing the gun he kept with him, and sticking it into his sash.

He grinned in the mirror, that hateful smirk that didn't mean joy at all. He laughed, and laughed again, getting into character. He left the room, going to the dining hall, where his ex-family was eating already.

"Doffy!" Trebol shouted, and Luffy laughed.

"I won't be eating with you this morning. I have something I need to do. And I should have done it long ago," he said with a chuckle, pulling out the gun and looking at it like it was his favorite thing in the world. The sunglasses were convenient so Luffy didn't need to control the panic in them.

"Doffy, what do you mean?" Diamante asked. _Fucking asshole._ The king chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. It's something I should do myself. I don't want my family to get hurt. Take care of Dressrosa for me," he laughed again and then walked out of the room. He kept his gait that awkward and conceited way, knees sticking out the sides a bit with exaggerated foot movement.

Some followed him out, worried about what he'd meant. The good thing for Luffy was that they didn't contradict Doflamingo so he didn't need to argue with anyone. Time to use the string powers. He jumped off of the castle and connected strings to the clouds above, flying his way out of sight of the island and those watching him.

He laughed again, so they could hear him just in case. As he got further from the island, he got smaller and less visible to the pirates playing royalty. Once he was completely out of view, Luffy made a mirror below him and dropped into it, arriving at Law, where he'd set up the return mirror.

Luffy changed back to normal, and breathed out a sigh. "I did it, they don't suspect a thing." Law grinned at him. "Only the main part to do," he said, and they ran down the mirror world to the mirror they'd lead paint to. Luffy was freaking out, but Law took his hand and he calmed a bit.

"I'm sorry I can't go with you," Law said sadly. Luffy kissed him sweetly as they stood outside the target mirror. Luffy hardened his gaze, resolve and will, transforming back into Doflamingo.

"Take care of me when I get back. I'll be exhausted," he said, and left the mirror. He was in a public bathroom and left it to go down the hallway. He clearly didn't fit in, but this wasn't the place to start at. He grinned wickedly the whole time, and made it out easily with little to no hassle, besides some nasty looks.

He knew exactly where the Celestial Dragons would be, not just the world nobles. He stood in the square, interrupting their meals with their slaves lifeless beside them. Doflmaingo grinned sadistically and took his glock out to shoot the nearest Celestial Dragon in the head, popping the bubble and spraying blood everywhere, all over the white outfits of the others.

Luffy laughed wickedly, and said, "Bird cage!" and put his hand up in the air. It mimicked what he'd seen those years ago perfectly. And while the bird cage wasn't perfectly round, and the bars weren't in even distances away from each other, it worked. No one could get in or out but Luffy.

Security guards and government officials came to the scene, and pointed their weapons at Luffy. "What a harsh reception. Just because my stupid father exiled us from here to be with trash, I'm not given a warm welcome?" he asked pompously.

"Doflamingo! You won't be excused for-" and Luffy shot a bullet string into his eye. People screamed, and Luffy followed his strings up and stood on the roof of the nearest building. "Parasite string," he said, and the nearest people started to move on their own, Luffy making them attack one another with their fists, since there weren't any swords. But there were a few guns, so Luffy managed to control some to pick them up and shoot at one another.

It was a terrible scene, full of blood and screaming as Luffy and the other Celestial Dragons eradicated the nobles. He laughed wickedly from the roof, making exaggerated hand movements to show it was him clearly doing this.

"Stop! Stop, please!" one woman said, having shot her husband.

He laughed again. "You're acting like humans, disgusting. I thought we were all gods! Then, you kicked me out." He didn't a single time lose his grin. He continued to massacre as officials attacked him, but he easily dodged.

Luffy had been expecting it, for CP0 to show up. "Yo, CP0," Luffy said lightly.

"What are you doing here, Doflamingo? What are you doing?" the tallest one demanded. Luffy laughed and pointed his gun, shooting him in the face. More guns were pulled on Luffy and he knew now that he (Doflamingo) would never be forgiven for this one act. The world could never forgive someone who killed "gods".

"I've always hated you. Try to act high and mighty when you can't do anything on your own," Luffy spat, and latched a parasite string from a dead body onto one of the agents. He had him slice his own throat. "Maybe you should have accepted me back, all those years ago."

If Luffy hadn't been exposed to murder from a young age, there was no way he could have done this without becoming ill. When he was shot at again, he dropped down behind the target building and ran as fast as he could to his escape, the mirror he'd set up there. As he ran, he plunged his hand into his head and yanked out the last 15 minutes of carnage. He didn't have time to make a replacement, so he just pulled it all out.

When he was near the mirror, he opened the door, seeing Doflamingo looking pissed, and used the slow slow beam to stop him from retaliating before he shoved his memories into his enemy's head. He also put wax on his head to change him into the clothes Luffy was wearing.

"So long, traitor," Luffy said, and jumped into the mirror, landing hard and rolling, breathing heavily. He was far enough from the mirror for the man not to see, but he could still see. He then used the glare-glare fruit to see Doflamingo fight against the officials.

They shouted at him to take the birdcage down, stop making the remnant Celestial Dragons kill one another. Doflamingo seemed to have shouted that it wasn't him, but Luffy released the powers he'd work so hard at, making it seem like it really had been the real Doflamingo who did all of that.

Law was there, and held Luffy, who was shaking. He'd done it. There was no way the world would move on from this, and the rest of the "family" would be apprehended and possibly executed. He didn't wish that fate upon Baby 5, but she stuck with them. There was nothing they could do to help her now.

The two of them, after Luffy gathered himself by having a slow and reassuring kiss with Law, headed back to the ship mirrors. They needed to check on the other two, how their parts went. They ended up running, Luffy afraid if they were hurt or had been caught. And they didn't have any den dens cause Sabo was in dragon form and Ace had to do everything to not seem suspicious.

When they arrived at the designated mirror, they jumped out and Law went running for his brothers, who should be back now. He made it out on deck to see both Ace and Sabo lying on their backs, grinning. When they saw Luffy, they jumped up and ran to him. Sabo was much more tired than Ace.

"How'd it go?" Ace asked. Luffy wasn't devastated, so it meant he pulled it off, but he still had to ask. Luffy held a thumbs up, and Ace and Sabo grinned, saying their duties worked as well. The three who'd stayed behind had been attacked, but fended off the marine galleon, Zoro chopping it and Deuce beating everyone near death. Jojo set fire to the ship since Ace wasn't there to.

"I did it. I pulled it off!" Luffy exclaimed, tears down his face. Now he was free. He could enjoy his days without thinking of wishing of Doflaimngo's fall from grace. He was enveloped in a group hug, and they had a party that night, Luffy spying on what was going on with the former-royalty. Doflamingo had not been forgiven for what he'd done (seemed he'd done). He was being executed.

He'd spend two months in prison first though. Looked like his crime was too serious for him to live. The marines seized the rest of the crew, and _they_ were going to Impel Down. They were each caught in sea stone nets so they couldn't hurt any marines. Their reign was over, their facade done and crashed down.

Kaido had no idea who had done in his SMILE factory since Sabo had destroyed the marine base, no one left there to live, and Ace killed the factory in secret and disguise. Doflamingo seemed like he did the massacre of his own free will. The plan worked perfectly, and he couldn't have asked for more.

They didn't get caught at all. Nobody knew it was them. But after that, they decided causing trouble was absolutely fun, and the other three wanted to take part in dismantling the government. Their spying capabilities and ease to move through different parts of the world gave them an overwhelming advantage over everything and everyone else. They would go after the vice admirals first. Besides Garp the fist, yet.

They'd cause chaos and havoc in the likes no one had ever seen before. They were pirates, after all. Not saints, not at all. They were and would always be pirates, so free that they could destroy the world if they so wished.

The adventure was only just beginning.


End file.
